A Semblance of Happiness
by NaanContributor
Summary: "If your Semblance is the manifestation of your soul, the representation of who you really are, then what does this say about me?" she sighed. "Why couldn't my Semblance have been something simple? Like, I don't know, Super Speed or something?"
1. Chapter 1

Prologue: A Story Will Be Told

The road, which was really more of a dirt path than anything else, had started off well enough. Worn smooth and relatively straight by the countless footsteps of those who frequently traveled it, it had seemed as clear and true as one's own good intentions.

That gradually changed as the hours and miles passed. Far from civilization and the tread of those who dwelled there, the earthen trail had become plagued with rocks and shallow roots, obscured by encroaching brush on either side.

The path snaked through a seemingly lifeless forest, the dwindling days of autumn leaving leaf-stripped trees in its wake, their bone-like branches clawing at a leaden sky. Following the winding pathway beneath this barren canopy trudged a lone, out-of-place figure.

A young blonde girl, her head bowed and face obscured by her hanging hair, the only sounds emitted by her travel being her panting breaths and the intermittent squeaking and rattling of the burden she pulled behind her.

Rolling along on dusty wheels was a little red wagon, and curled within was a tiny form swaddled in an equally red cloak. Even amongst the nest of blankets that lined the bed of the wagon, the too-large garment seemed to swallow the toddler up in its velvet embrace. The only features that were exposed were two dainty hands half curled into fists and her heart-shaped face, pale as the moon.

Her doll-like features were framed by locks of red hair so dark that it appeared to be black, only revealing their true scarlet hue near the ends when hit by the meagre light in just the right way.

The wagon's occupant appeared to be resting peacefully at first glance, but the hood over her head could not hide the fitful twitches that interrupted her repose, nor the dried tear tracks that marred her cheeks.

One of these bouts of unease just so happened to coincide with a sudden lurch caused by her bearer, the older girl stumbling as a small stone gave way beneath her foot. The blonde hissed in pain as her knee impacted with the unyielding grit.

These disturbances proved enough to rouse the toddler from her shallow slumber, her eyelids fluttering open to reveal wide silver irises. A soft yawn escaped her mouth before she sat up, rubbing the residual tears from her eyes.

"Yang?" The yellow head in front of her jerked up at the uncertain call, before turning around completely to respond to the sleepy five-year-old.

"Go back to sleep Ruby." her older sister replied quietly, as though to lull her into doing just that with her gentle tone alone, backed by a reassuring smile. Rather than complying, the younger sister looked around, their unfamiliar surroundings serving to drive away the last vestiges of drowsiness from her gaze.

"Where are we?" The last thing she remembered was her Daddy tucking her into bed for a nap before he stepped out of the house for some kind of errand. She didn't recognize anything about where they were now. The skeletons of the densely packed trees seemed to tower overhead, and they creaked ominously in response to the cold gusts of wind, moaning like the dying gasps of the world.

They did nothing to lift the slight layer of mist that drifted and clung to the forest floor. She shivered and pulled her cloak more tightly around herself, both in response to the chill hanging in the air and the dark images prompted from her young imagination. She succeeded in shutting out the former, but not the latter.

"I – We're going to find someone." Gratefully, she turned away from the dismal environment to listen to her sister's response. "Someone who's going to make everything all better."

Ruby's face brightened at the news, a tentative hope suffusing her voice, "We're going to find Momma?" Their Momma was a great hero, always going out to slay monsters and save people, just like in the legends and stories that she would read to them before bed!

A few weeks ago she had left on another one of her missions, leaving them all with a kiss and a promise to come back safe and sound. But she didn't. Her Momma hadn't come back, and now everyone was saying that she never would.

Ruby didn't understand. Why wouldn't her Momma come back? She always came back. She promised that she would. Where did she go? What happened to her? When would they see her again? Over and over she would ask these questions, but no one would answer her. They just seemed to make everyone more upset until they would start crying, and then _she_ would start crying too, without really understanding why. But maybe now…

Yang's smile faltered in the face of that hopeful question. "N-not exactly…" And just like that, the flicker of hope that sprouted in her chest was smothered once more. Yang, unable to bear seeing that bright gaze darken and fall with disappointment, quickly attempted to rally, lifting her hands to reassure her sibling.

"But, but-" she winced as the movement peeled one of her hands from its grip around the wooden handle of the wagon. This drew Ruby's attention to said hand, and she gasped.

"You're hurt!" Yang's insistent protests that she was okay went unheeded as Ruby gently but firmly cupped her sister's appendage in her own smaller hands so that she could better assess the damage. Another shocked gasp was drawn from her lips as she examined the palm, rubbed raw and covered in popped blisters, slowly weeping blood and other fluids.

"Really sis, I'm fine." But she really wasn't. Now that Ruby took the time to really look at her sister, she could see that she was in a sorry state indeed. Her normally vibrant hair was matted with dirt, with sweaty bangs sticking to an equally dirty and scuffed face. Leaves and twigs were sticking out of her pigtails. Her clothes were rumpled and torn.

She tried to hide her other hand from view, but Ruby saw that it was in just as bad shape as the one she currently held. She had likely alternated her grip on the wagon handle in a futile attempt to alieve the friction of the unforgiving wood. Ruby leaned forward to better see the scraped knee and dust covered shoes, which she could now see had holes worn into them.

 _How long has she been walking?_ Ruby looked back at the distance they had already covered. The road stretched out of the forest, up and down rolling hills before disappearing into the distance. Her worry spiked sharply upon realizing that she had no idea where they were, or more importantly, how to get back home.

Yang grasped her shoulders with a feather light touch and slowly turned her back around, both to not startle her baby sister, and to avoid agitating her hands. "Ruby, listen to me. We're not going to see Mom again, but if we can find this person I'm looking for, everything will be okay. They'll be able to fix everything. I know it."

Seeing that Ruby didn't really understand, she looked into her sister's argent orbs with her own lilac gaze, filling it with all of the flagging conviction she could muster. "Ruby, do you trust me?" The hood covered head nodded hesitantly.

Yang may have only been two years older than her, but she was always so full of strength and confidence that Ruby couldn't help but follow along with everything she did. And Momma always told her that if they ever happened to be alone together, then she should listen to her big sister, and stay close to her no matter what.

That fragile smile returned, white teeth showing clearly against grime-smeared cheeks. "Good. Now just lay down and go back to sleep." She grabbed ahold of the handle before turning around to continue their journey. Her next words were barely audible, as though she were saying them to herself. "Everything's going to be just fine."

"…okay." Ruby sat back down without another word, but she didn't go back to sleep. She couldn't even if she wanted to. So instead she watched her sister's back, and the passing scenery, with steadily growing concern. With every step forward Yang took, the surrounding darkness seemed to deepen and encroach upon them further, and her shoulders slumped down a little more.

When Ruby offered to get out and walk for a bit in order to lighten her load, Yang immediately refused out of stubborn pride. With nothing else to distract her, she was left to the nonexistent mercies of her mounting fears.

The fell breeze carried dead and rotting leaves in its wake, and seemed to whisper things into her ears that she couldn't understand, no matter how much she focused on them. Shadowy shapes would shift and dart in the corners of her vision, only to dissipate when she tried to catch them in her sights.

Ruby shook her head sharply. _Don't be scared!_ she scolded herself. Momma always said that bad feelings would help monsters find you. The best way to keep the Grimm away was to think good thoughts and be happy! Digging her fingers into the tangled cloth beneath her, Ruby felt a vaguely familiar shape.

With a bit of difficulty, she managed to pull out her discovery: her favorite stuffed Beowolf, which Yang had thoughtfully brought along. Ruby clutched the plush lycanthrope to her chest, squeezing every ounce of comfort from its fluffy frame that she could.

With her eyes peeking between the fuzzy ears of her toy, she was barely able to make out how the watery grey light from the overcast sky above seemed to be waning. Her mouth dried up when she realized that the sun was setting.

What did Yang plan to do once night fell? They had already come too far to make it back home in time, not that Yang was in any state to make the trip back anyways. Maybe the mystery person they were going to visit would let them sleepover?

As though signaled by her thoughts, the tree trunks suddenly opened up to reveal their apparent destination. In the middle of a circular clearing, framed by the background of the dark forest, stood a cabin. An old, rundown, and abandoned-looking cabin.

No welcoming lights shone out of the shattered windows to push back the approaching night. The tile roof was sagging, boards were missing from the walls, and only one of the splintered double doors of the entrance had managed to cling to the frame by a single rusty hinge. Right next to the dilapidated residence was a structure that might have been a stable, though Ruby couldn't be sure with how it had completely collapsed upon itself.

"We made it…" None of these details seemed to matter to Yang though. Beyond the hoarseness of her voice, Ruby could hear relief, satisfaction, and pride. Any misgivings she might have voiced shriveled on her tongue. How could she express any doubts in the face of that? As her sister eagerly stumbled the last few feet to the threshold, she allowed herself to think that maybe everything would be alright after all.

The bestial growl that came out of the doorway shook her to her core and drained the blood from her face. A pair of burning red slits appeared within the stygian interior of the portal. They focused on the two hapless intruders with boundless hate, only to be followed by another one, and _another_ one. As their owners stalked forward into the suddenly bone-chilling air, the twilight revealed more details of their monstrous forms.

Curved, dagger-like claws, numerous spikes with the appearance of bone but were as hard as steel, slavering maws filled with razor sharp fangs, and thick fur-covered hides so black that they seemed to suck up the light. All culminating in the distinctive masks that made it seem as though the skin had been flayed from their skulls, with blood red detailing forming a design of unfathomable significance.

The trio of Beowolves that prowled towards them seemed a cruel mockery of the stuffed doll now strangled in Ruby's paralyzed grip, harbingers of brutal death instead of a comforting guardian. She didn't move, didn't dare to _breath_ , in the futile belief that they wouldn't attack until she did.

As the Grimm on the flanks leaned forward with eager leers the center Beowolf, slightly larger and spikier than its fellows, snarled and snapped at their faces so that they cringed back in deference. Its message was clear: first blood was reserved for the leader. Ruby used this distraction to snap her wide-eyed gaze to Yang. She didn't know what to do but surely her big sister could-

An ice cold fist squeezed her heart as Yang turned to face her. She didn't seem to be aware of the endless stream of silent tears that fell from her glassy eyes, guilt and despair dulling lilac into a washed-out grey. Her mouth feebly opened and closed but no sound came forth, whatever apologies she may have been trying to express crushed by the magnitude of what she had led them into.

 _no_

Her heart started beating again and increased in tempo until it was pounding against the walls of her chest like a frenzied animal. Her lungs followed suit, quickly matching the pace set by her out of control organ, causing her to hyperventilate.

 _No_

It was looking into her sister's eyes that showed her the stark reality that they faced. There would be no escape. No one would come to save them in the nick of time like in the stories their parents told them.

 _NO_

As the Beowolf coiled its muscles to leap upon them, Ruby felt something pushing within her. It felt as if…a burning, freezing light was trying to force its way through her eyes, squeezing past her tears and out into the world. But more than that, Ruby felt her fear, her anger, her hopelessness, and a hundred other dark emotions that she didn't know the name of, all swirling and growing and building up inside her until she felt like she would explode if she didn't do something.

With a triumphant roar the Grimm pounced upon the helpless girls. Time seemed to stop, and with perfect clarity Ruby watched as their end came for them with outstretched claws.

They were going to die.

"NOOOOO!" Ruby took the roiling mass of terror, despair, and hatred within her and threw her right arm forward as she screamed, like she was throwing an invisible ball at the oncoming monster. And a pitch black… _thing_ , flew from her empty palm to splatter against the Beowolf's face with a heavy smack.

The impact knocked the lupine abomination off course and it crashed into the dirt a foot away from its erstwhile victims, where it immediately began to thrash wildly. The two smaller 'wolves reared back in surprise, before staring at their companion's predicament in bewilderment, their reactions to this unexpected event mirrored by the two dumbfounded sisters.

A thick tar-like substance clung to the Beowolf's masked snout, black as the creature's own midnight hide. The Grimm's frantic attempts to claw the ooze away were futile, its thick claws passing right through to scrape against the bone or gouge its own flesh as its muffled snarls quickly transformed to desperate howls.

The other Beowolves recovered first, the crimson glow of their eyes switching from their fallen comrade to the two girls with hateful focus. The shift snapped Yang out of her daze, and as the remaining creatures of Grimm leapt forward, she spun around and pulled Ruby into her arms in a pitiful attempt to shield her baby sister with her own body.

A sudden gust of wind tossed her pigtails about, and with a _Clank-Clank-Slice!_ the snarls of the beasts were cut off and replaced with a series of heavy thuds. For a few seconds Yang could only stand there trembling, before slowly turning back in disbelief at their continued survival.

The cape was the first thing she saw, tattered and faded red, flapping in the lingering breeze caused by its owner's arrival. The figure it was attached to was tall and lean, seeming like nothing less than a giant from where she stood.

Their savior's head was topped by pulled back hair of a dusty black, their texture reminiscent of ruffled feathers. Said head was tilted down to look at the bisected pair of monsters at his feet before turning, his angular and grizzled features framed by the curve of the large segmented scythe blade resting on his shoulder.

As stern red eyes looked down at her, Yang's lingering terror and subsequent relief at their rescue drained away, replaced with a gnawing pit of shame. She hung her head, unable to meet the judgement of that gaze, wishing that she could sink into the ground and never be seen again.

Which is why she was so startled when the sound of grinding gears was followed by arms of corded muscle pulling both of the sisters into a gentle embrace.

"Thank God you're both okay!" came the raspy whisper, filled with such genuine heart-rending relief that it made Yang feel a thousand times worse.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby cried happily, her enthusiastic return hug squeezing her sister between the two of them.

"Hey there squirt." Qrow Branwen matched his youngest niece's smile before pulling back slightly and wiping away a couple of joyful tears. "That was close. For a minute there I thought I wasn't going to make it in ti-"

He was interrupted by a muffled yip, and in the blink of an eye he stood with his back to them in a defensive stance, his weapon pointed down in sword form at the incapacitated Beowolf still lying forgotten on the ground.

Seeing that the wretched creature was incapable of posing a threat, he lowered his blade a bit to stare at it curiously, his nieces peeking around either side of him to do the same. The beast's cries and struggles had gradually decreased as it suffocated under the layer of gunk that coated its mouth, nose, and eyes.

As the children and their protector watched, the panicked gurgles faded and flailing limbs slowed before slackening entirely. It was dead.

"So…" Qrow awkwardly drawled, "What exactly did I miss?" Before either of the girls could answer him, the corpses of the three Beowolves started to disintegrate. Faint wisps of black smoke rose up at first, before gradually growing and thickening until they became boiling clouds of black particles that faded away into the evening air as the bodies evaporated away. Not even the previously solid bones or masks were left behind, crumbling away into dust.

Soon all that was left was the black "tar", sitting in the dirt as a congealed puddle, its apparent purpose fulfilled. Qrow cautiously prodded at the puddle with his sword, his mouth tightening into a disturbed frown when the mass seemed to _shy away_ from the sharp point. Before he could experiment with it any further, it too began to evaporate into an insubstantial black smoke. Just like the slain Grimm.

Hearing a quiet gasp behind him, Qrow turned to see Ruby staring at her right hand while a blood-red light outlined her body, softly pulsing like a heartbeat. In the center of her tiny palm was a single bead of the mysterious substance. After a few seconds the crimson glow around the five-year-old faded away, and the black droplet followed suit, disintegrating and vanishing before their very eyes.


	2. Chapter 1: Fills My Head With Dreams

_The wind was roaring, a ceaseless river of air shrieking into her face with such force that she needed to brace her feet just to keep from being swept away. With her hooded head bowed against it, the only thing she could see was the stone epitaph resting on the snow covered cliff edge._

 _Etched into its otherwise smooth face was an emblem of a burning rose above a few words. She knew those words were important, but no matter how much she tried to focus on them, she couldn't make out what they said._

 _Movement in the top of her vision caused her to lift her head, her eyes squinting against the oncoming gale. A figure stood, no_ floated _, above the gravestone, just a few steps beyond the boundary between earth and sky. Its form was obscured by a long white cloak, the flapping edges offering glimpses of its scarlet inner lining._

 _She opened her mouth to cry out to the shrouded figure, but the wind tore her words away as soon as she released them. As she readied herself to start struggling forward, she realized that the cloaked specter was gone._

 _In its place was the moon, full, pristine, and impossibly large. The glow of the celestial body was reflected by the twin mirrors of her eyes as it swelled and brightened._

 _The silver-white light grew until it became blinding in its intensity, before shattering. Luminous shards burst forth and pierced her body like needles. She didn't even have time to scream before she was ripped apart, scattered like petals on the wind._

Her awakening was sudden and disjointed, muted colors and murky shadows smearing together before her blinking eyes. Ruby Rose rubbed the grit away from the corners of her eyes as she tried to slow her frantically beating heart. As she sat up, the blinding white of her nightmare was replaced with the familiar scene of her bedroom.

Only after confirming the presence of her older sister's blanketed form in the twin bed against the opposite wall, her shoulders gently rising and falling in blissful repose, did the eight-year-old allow herself to relax with a relieved sigh.

Soft moonbeams streamed through the windows to illuminate portions of the cozy room, touching upon dressers and shelves where books and Huntsmen and Grimm figurines stood in their proper places. She followed the columns of lunar light to their source beyond the glass panes. Unlike in her dream, the moon's true shattered state was displayed for all to see, the half-orb's smallest fragments barely distinguishable from the stars gathered around it.

As her thoughts returned to her dream, a powerful sense of purpose came over Ruby, almost as if someone was calling to her from far away. Deciding to follow this inexplicable urge, Ruby swung her legs out over the edge of the bed and slowly lowered herself to the floor, making sure to keep a watchful eye on Yang's golden mop of hair as she did so.

With no changes in the rhythm of the blonde's gentle snores detected, Ruby tiptoed across the rug to her closet. She didn't bother changing out of her pajamas, only grabbing her sturdy red and black combat boots and her precious cloak, which should provide more than enough protection from the night's chill for the little excursion she had planned.

After attaching the silver cross-shaped pins of the cloak to her pajama top, she slipped out the bedroom door and through her house like a crimson ghost, easy familiarity allowing her to traipse across the wooden floorboards in complete silence. Only after arriving at the main entry way did she stop to don her boots. Footwear equipped, she pushed her way outside and took a deep breath of the refreshing midnight air through her nose before exhaling explosively.

She took a few seconds to get her bearings before setting off, the dew covered grass giving way beneath her soles. Despite wandering out into the woods in the middle of the night, by herself no less, she wasn't unduly worried.

Her destination was only a half hour's walk away, and besides, the island of Patch had always had a relatively small Grimm population due to both its size and the resident Huntsmen and Huntresses who kept the island's inhabited regions culled, both the teachers at Signal Academy and retirees alike.

As she made her way through the grove, she was thankful for the gently rising slope that showed her the proper direction to follow. It had been…a long time since she had last come this way, and the path was unfamiliar to her.

She was drawn from her musings as the tree line opened up, revealing her destination. The cool breeze returned as she crossed the expanse of open ground to the cliff edge, and she tugged the edges of her cloak in response, swaddling herself in its comforting folds.

Every step she took felt heavier and slower, yet it seemed as though it took no time at all before she stopped, standing before the grave. Unlike in her dream, the delicate script of the engraving was perfectly legible:

 _Summer Rose_

 _Thus Kindly I Scatter_

She stood there without making a sound for the next few minutes, staring blankly at the carved stone, waiting for…something. Eventually she released a shaky sigh before looking around, noting more differences between her dream (nightmare?) and reality.

Rather than the howling winds and blinding snow of winter, she was surrounded by the intermittent breezes and soft greens of late spring. The moon was small, shattered, and at her back, instead of looming, whole, and in her face. And most importantly there was no white-cloaked figure for her to reach out to, only an endless vista of forests and mountains, stretching out to the horizon.

Ruby sighed once more, shaking her head at her own foolishness. What had she expected to happen by coming out here? What did she think to accomplish, what answers had she hoped to find? She had known ever since the funeral when they had erected this monument, having not even found a body to bury, that there was nothing for her here. Wasn't there?

She fidgeted uncomfortably, refusing to trudge back home so quickly with nothing to show for her efforts. Eventually her restless gaze settled on the distant scenery. It really was a beautiful view, she could understand why this spot was chosen. She could easily imagine spending the rest of eternity right here, watching over the world. A sense of peace slowly stole over her, and with it came a…presence. As though someone was right there enjoying the view with her.

Maybe…if she wanted answers, then she needed to ask some questions first? She lowered her hood, letting the breeze ruffle the red-streaked strands of her hair. "H-hi Mom…" She winced at how her squeaky voice broke the silent atmosphere, but when nothing happened to interrupt her, she cleared her throat and continued.

"Hi Mom." she repeated, her voice quickly building in strength. "Long time no see!" The shaky grin she put on for her weak joke lasted less than a second before it faltered and fell. "I don't know if you can hear me, if you've really been watching over us like Dad says. If you are here, then I'm sorry I haven't come to see you for so long. It's just, whenever I think about it…it gets hard."

Ruby sniffled a bit, before rubbing her face and forcing some cheer into her voice. "Anyways! I should probably let you know about what's been going on with all of us, just in case. Right? Right." The restless eight-year-old nodded to herself before she started rocking on her heels, her brow furrowed slightly in thought. "Let's see, where to start…"

"Dad's doing a lot better these days. He still looks really sad sometimes, when he thinks no one's looking, but nothing like that weird funk he was in at first." She stopped to rub the back of her head sheepishly. "Yang and I kind of got ourselves into trouble of the Grimm sort, and I think it sort of scared him back to life."

Her eyes widened as she seemed to realize how bad that sounded (though she couldn't think of any way to truthfully downplay that incident), and waved her hands before her as she hurried to explain.

"Oh, but don't worry! Yang wore herself out pretty bad from the journey, but Uncle Qrow found us just in time and beat those lousy Beowolves before they could do anything to hurt us! He was soooo cool, just like in the stories you told us! And I unlocked my Aura, so it wasn't all bad!"

Her fluttering hands stilled and fell to her sides, along with the corners of her mouth as she gave an annoyed frown. "Sometimes I wish I didn't." Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, she shook her head.

"No, that's not really true. Aura is awesome! It makes me super strong and fast, and it keeps me from getting hurt! Or at least, it fixes me up afterwards if I forget to activate it, heheh…"

"It's just," her miniscule shoulders slumped and her gaze became downcast, "everyone's been treating me differently since it happened. Some of the kids at school don't want me to play with them anymore, because my Aura makes it not "fair". Even the games where it doesn't do anything to help me win!" her mouth narrowed in a pout that was more adorable than intimidating.

"It's not all bad though." she continued, "It lets me do things to help people that I couldn't do otherwise." Her pursed lips shifted into a bashful smile. "Like there was this one time during recess, when I found these three older bullies picking on another boy behind a building."

"They were calling him names and grabbing him by his horns, so I ran in between them and the boy and told them to cut it out! Then they just started yelling at me instead. I wanted to push them away or something, but I knew that might hurt them, so I just blocked them and kept telling them to stop."

Ruby's frown returned as her hands clenched. "But they didn't. One of them even hit me, but my Aura was up so I think he just sprained his wrist. And that's before Yang tackled him." the eight year old's silver eyes gleamed with pride.

"She'd been looking for me, and she saw that boy hit me, so she came in with her fists swinging!" Here the short girl brought her own fists up and started swinging them around in a pantomime of the uncoordinated brawl as she got caught up in her story.

"Yang's awesome, and she could have taken any one or even two of those guys no problem. And she was so mad that they almost ran off anyways. But it was one against three, so they cheated and ganged up on her!"

"I wasn't going to stand there and let my sister get hurt trying to protect me though, so I walked up behind them, grabbed one with each hand, and lifted them above my head!" The excitable crimsonette threw her slender arms up into the night air in victory.

"They weren't that heavy, but their struggling and shouting almost tipped me over, so I dropped them on their butts!" she giggled at the memory. "Yang gave the last one a bloody nose, so they finally ran away like the wimps they were!" Her satisfied grin turned sheepish as a hand dropped to scratch her cheek.

"Buuuut we kind of got into trouble for that. Not as much as those boys though, once we told the adults everything that happened. I don't know if Dad was angry at us or proud of us. He did lecture us on getting into fights, and about using my Aura against "normal" people. Even though they're the ones who started it!" Ruby stamped her foot in anger.

"He's been teaching me how to use my Aura properly. None of the really cool stuff, just the basics like learning to turn it on and off without thinking about it, focusing it, and shaping it, and "feeling the flow of energy within me". The meditation stuff is soooo boring!" she whined.

"I wanna hurry up and learn the Huntress stuff! Like jumping and flipping, and swinging giant weapons around, and casting Dust spells! But Dad always says I'm not ready yet, no matter how many times I ask! He says that most people don't unlock their Auras as early as I have, so it would be dangerous to rush my training like that. Something about 'stunting my development'?"

She shook her head, locks of red and black flapping about. "Yang says I'm lucky to be getting that much. She's been trying everything she can think of to unlock her Aura for a long time now. I've actually been pretty worried about her, and so has Dad. He finally agreed to help her with it instead of trying to get her to stop after he caught her trying to use some of his training weights."

Ruby poked her index fingers together uncomfortably, "She's been looking out for me, just like always, but I don't want her to hurt herself doing it. I'm a lot tougher than I used to be after all, I can take care of myself sometimes!"

She chuckled, "But I guess her stubbornness paid off, because she actually unlocked it a couple weeks ago! You should have seen it, it was so awesome! Her eyes changed color, becoming red like fire, and her Aura was flaring around her so bright she was like the Sun! Especially her hair, she's grown it really long, and it looked like a curtain of burning gold! She hasn't been able to transform like that again, but Dad says she will once she masters her Semblance."

Ruby was almost bouncing on her heels in excitement by this point. "She actually has perfect timing, because Uncle Qrow is coming back from one of his longer missions in a couple of days! Or tomorrow now, I guess. If Dad won't teach us how to fight, then we're pretty sure that Uncle Qrow will!"

"He's really been trying to be there for all of us as much as he can compared to…before. He's taking shorter and closer missions so he can spend more time in Patch, and he takes care of me and Yang whenever Dad's too busy."

"Dad's actually been trying to convince him to accept a teaching job at Signal so they can work together, which is kind of weird since I don't think Dad likes some of the things Uncle Qrow teaches us…" Her head tilted with a moue of confusion, as if she couldn't possibly comprehend why her father would disapprove of her favorite uncle's behavior.

"I really hope he says yes, because with Dad and Uncle Qrow teaching us, then Yang and I will become awesome Huntresses in no time! Just like you." Ruby's smile slowly dimmed as her torrent of words finally slowed to a trickle. Throughout her entire recollection the only responses she received were from the wind, her mother's grave as still and silent as when she arrived. But that ephemeral presence remained, patient and attentive.

"I miss you." The young Rose's voice was a strained whisper, but it quickly built along with the moisture in her silver eyes. "We all do, every minute of every day. We try our best to keep living without you, but sometimes it feels like we just can't bear it, and we shouldn't have to!" The droplets were freely flowing down her pale cheeks now, but she didn't seem to notice, nor care.

"I know you didn't plan this. You just tried to do what's right, like you always did. Like you taught us to do." Her nose was starting to run, so she roughly wiped it with her sleeve as her chest heaved. "But you promised that you'd always be there for us, that you'd always come back, so why-! Why…" Somehow, she managed to choke down her sobs long enough to scream into the void.

"Why did you leave me?!" She collapsed to her knees as her entire frame shook with the force of her grief. The tiny figure seemed to curl in on herself even more as she was consumed by the emotions she normally kept locked away, crushed under their weight into a singularity of anger, guilt, loneliness, and longing.

But even such seemingly unbearable burdens must lighten eventually. As the minutes passed and the shattered moon continued its inexorable passage across the sky, so too did the broken girl below laboriously rise as she gathered herself, refusing to let the night continue without her. Now her tears had run their course, and she felt…lighter, than she could remember being for a very long time.

With a final sniffle, Ruby Rose cleaned her face as best she could. "I'm sorry for yelling at you like that." The smile she gave was still fragile, but there was a peaceful quality to it that it hadn't possessed before. "Maybe one day I'll find out what happened to you. But even if I never do, I'll always keep you with me." Delicate hands clutched to her chest. "Thanks for listening Mom. I love you, and I'll make you prou-"

Ruby's spine tightened like a bowstring as her Aura did the same around her skin. _Danger_ , it whispered to her, like a blade from a sheath. She spun around.

The pair of Beowolves that had been sneaking up on her froze in mid stalk. For a moment, all of the figures present could only stare at each other in surprise. The Grimm were young, with their bone masks still undeveloped, though they still dwarfed the eight year old human regardless.

One had gotten much closer than its companion, and it had stopped with its leading paw hovering uncertainly in the middle of its next step. It was almost comical really, like Ruby herself looked when she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Ruby's eyes flicked down to a fallen tree branch laying nearby, and like that the spell was broken. She snatched up the piece of fragile wood as the Beowolf lunged at her with a snarl, her Aura flowing down the length even as she swung with all her might. It was only the reinforcement of her soul that kept the branch from shattering into useless splinters from the impact with the incoming beast's jaw, knocking the 'wolf to the side in mid leap.

Unfortunately she had no time to follow up, as the second Beowolf was already in midair right behind its partner. Unable to carry out a back swing in time, Ruby barely managed to bring the branch between its jaws and her throat as it bore down on her. The Grimm's fangs bit deep into the wood despite her Aura strengthening it, and she fell back under the monster's weight.

The Beowolf clumsily swiped at her head and missed, one of its claws hitting the edge of her mother's grave stone and snapping off with a _crack!_ As wet and rancid breath blew over her face, Ruby felt her back hitting the ground. Thinking quickly, she managed to get her booted feet up and planted them against the Beowolf's gut. Moving with the momentum of their fall, she rolled back and kicked out.

The creature's teeth were still embedded in her improvised weapon, so it was ripped from her grasp as it went sailing over the cliff edge, its garbled howls quickly fading as it plummeted to its death. With no time to catch her breath, Ruby glanced over to the first Beowolf, which was already staggering to its feet and shaking off its beating.

Desperately, she cast about for something else to fight with. The moonlight reflected off the white surface of the broken claw resting next to the stone plinth. Grasping onto the base of the knife-like object, Ruby surged to her feet. As the last Beowolf raised its own claws with a roar, a red blur rushed past its reach and slammed against its chest.

The roar cut off and was replaced by a confused gurgling. Ruby gripped the curved claw she had buried in the abomination's throat with both hands, then ripped it wide open. A fountain of black and red ichor sprayed onto her shoulder and chest, and the gurgling increased before dying away entirely. The young Beowolf slumped onto her shoulder, its now limp arms wrapping around her in a macabre embrace.

Ruby shoved the dead weight off with a shudder, her breathing broken into uneven gasps as the adrenaline continued to run through her veins. Her eyes darted around as she tried to see if she had drawn any other Grimm to her, but there was nothing. They were just an (un)lucky pair of wanderers. The girl sighed with relief, only to start coughing as the corpse started to disintegrate at her feet.

The cloud of smoke billowed right into her face. It smelled of ash, rust, and old blood, so thick she could taste it on the back of her tongue. Ruby hacked and gagged, fanning her free hand before her as her Aura automatically flared at her distress. The choking miasma quickly cleared from her lungs, and she gave a satisfied huff that then caught in her throat.

The Grimm smoke had…stopped. It was just sitting there immobile in the air, completely ignoring the wind that tried to carry it away. Ruby's bewildered gaze played over the frozen eddies and whorls of the impossible phenomenon. Hesitantly, she reached out and passed her hand through it, gasping at the oily sensation as well as the resulting movement of the smoke as it followed the motion of her appendage.

 _No_ , she realized, _not my hand. My Aura._ She could feel it, the light of her soul pulling on the essence of darkness like a magnet to metal shavings. As she flipped her hand and focused her crimson Aura into her upturned palm, the onyx dust obediently gathered above it, flowing like water down a drain. It soon coalesced into a shifting mass about the size of her own head. That's when things got weird…well, weirder.

As she forced the particles together, they started to condense into a familiar, tar-like substance. But the longer she kept it in this state, the harder it became to maintain her control over it. It seemed to struggle against her grip, different portions of it rapidly shifting between gas and liquid. Ironically, it made her feel like she was trying to grasp smoke with her bare hands.

Ruby felt her frustration mount, followed by what she could only describe as feeling that frustration flow down her arm along with her Aura, leaving her calm once more. She couldn't be certain, but she thought she might have seen the floating tar grow just a bit.

Any worry she may have felt from that thought was also quickly pushed aside. For now she needed to figure out a way to store this thing before she lost her hold, leaving it to dissipate like normal.

It was like…it didn't want to be in this malleable state. It needed to be more solid to keep it from flying apart at the seams. To be given a form and function.

She needed to make it into something.

Ruby racked her brain as sweat beaded on her forehead and her Aura started dimming, before she settled on the first object that came to mind. She closed her eyes and focused on the image, before mentally imposing it on the Grimm Essence. She could feel it shifting and hardening in response. When she could no longer sense it fighting against her, she opened her eyes.

The black gas and ooze were gone, and in their place she held a rose. Its long stem and spiky leaves were a red so deep it was nearly black, like congealed blood, while the hook-like thorns were as white as bone spikes. But it was the flower head itself that drew the eye.

With more petals than seemed possible, there was an eerie but undeniable beauty to it. She thought it was red at first, before she realized that it was actually made of the same white material as the thorns. But the surfaces of the bloom were covered in scarlet lines and swirls like those on a Grimm mask, layered so thickly that they dominated the petals.

When she brought her other hand up to play over her creation, Ruby realized that it was still occupied. The claw that had saved her life was somehow still as solid as before, minutes after its original owner's demise. Her Aura had been flowing through it more easily than any other material she had tried it on before, such that she had barely noticed it. As she brought the claw closer for inspection, she noticed that it had been subtly changed.

Her grip had squeezed the thick and jagged base into a smooth handle, molding it to her hand like clay. It retained the same length and curve, but the point and edges had sharpened, turning the unnatural weapon into a knife in form as well as function. And even as she watched, thin strands of red detailing were slowly spreading over it like growing vines, decorating the previously blank blade.

Ruby slowly turned to face her mother's grave once more with a haunted look in her eyes. She held up the beautiful, impossible, and terrible objects as if in supplication.

"Well now what do I do?


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Don't You Worry About the Dark

 _What am I going to do?_ That question had been plaguing Ruby all of the previous day, from the moment her bleary eyes opened in the morning to long after her head hit her pillow that night. Thankfully, Yang and her Dad had remained blissfully unaware of her little midnight excursion.

Her big sister had been too caught up in her excitement over showing off her unlocked Aura to Uncle Qrow to notice any changes in Ruby's behavior. Normally Ruby would have made Yang look positively stoic in her reaction to her favorite uncle's impending visit, but the entire day she was preoccupied with the events of the previous night.

She just went through the motions of her day, doing her chores automatically like one of those Atlesian robots, and spending all of her free time pondering and fretting. She was lucky that they had just started summer vacation, because there's no way she could have concentrated on any homework.

It was while standing outside her home that night and trying to figure out a way to hide her new possessions that the "rose" presented an answer for her. The formerly rigid stem flexed like a snake before gently wrapping itself around her wrist, the thorns shifting to avoid pressing against her skin and the end tucking itself behind the flower head to form the centerpiece.

It did so slowly, as if it were trying to avoid panicking its holder, which nearly happened regardless. This left it as more of a spiked bracelet that Ruby could easily cover with her sleeve. Although it felt more like a manacle to the distressed girl.

The Beowolf Claw was almost mundane in comparison, not moving or changing at all. But the negligible weight of the knife felt like an anchor in her pocket. She would have loved to just shove the items in the bottom of a dresser drawer, out of sight and out of mind. But she wasn't going to risk them being discovered by her family before she was ready to show them, so she kept them on her person.

Because she would have to show them at some point, there was no question about that. The problem was that she didn't know how she would explain any of it. How could she, when she didn't really understand it herself? She had spent so much time worrying and brooding that before she knew it, it was almost time for Uncle Qrow to arrive.

She decided that this was actually for the best. Now she would be able to reveal her little secret to her entire family at the same time, rather than piecemeal over multiple days. And hopefully at least one of the two adults would know what to do.

Ruby was pulled from her thoughts by a rapping at their door, her uncle ignoring the doorbell button as usual. She pushed her worries aside with surprising ease, already finding an eager grin on her face as she rushed to the entryway. Unbeknownst to her, the stem wrapped around her wrist grew a few inches longer.

"I got it!" As Ruby skipped through the living room, the shout rang above her head. Looking up to the second floor balcony, she saw her sister balancing precariously on top of the banister. Before she could react, Yang had already leapt, sailing across the room before landing right in front of the door with an "Oof!", her yellow Aura flaring messily and the floorboards shuddering under her feet.

"Hey, no fair!" Ruby pouted at her sister's unconventional shortcut, receiving only a giddy laugh in response before a much deeper, and angrier, voice cut her off.

"Yang!" Taiyang Xiao Long stomped out of the kitchen doorway, blue eyes flashing and dish towel forgotten in his clenched grip as he glowered at his oldest daughter. "What did I tell you about abusing your Aura like that?" The ten year old flinched before her eyes fastened onto the carpet.

"Not to..." came the ashamed response. Seeing his little sunshine so subdued immediately took the fire out of him, and Tai sighed before lowering his voice to normal levels.

"I know that you're excited about finally unlocking it after trying so hard for so long. But you need to remember your Aura's still undeveloped. You could seriously hurt yourself if you're not careful." When lilac eyes carefully peeked up at him through blonde bangs, he looked down with a gentle smile. "And if you're going to play around with it, could you at least do it out of the house?"

The knocking at the ignored door stopped before the unlocked barrier cracked open. "What's this I hear about the dandelion finally unlocking her Aura?"

Ruby cheered while Yang groaned, "Aww, it was supposed to be a surprise!"

Qrow Branwen chuckled as he stepped into the house, holding the strap of the small pack hanging over his shoulder with one hand while the other tousled Ruby's hair as she glomped onto his leg. "If it makes you feel any better, I wouldn't have been that surprised anyway, considering how hard you were trying to get it. Good job by the way."

"Kind of...?" Yang muttered, only to squawk indignantly when Qrow mussed up her own locks.

"Don't let your Pops get ya down kid," he continued, ignoring Yang's glowering as she tried to fix her shaggy mane. "He's just trying to keep you from making the same mistakes everyone does after they first get their Aura."

He dropped his bag to the side with a satisfied sigh. "You probably feel pretty invincible right now huh? But that's just because you haven't learned your limits yet. I remember some of the stupid stunts I did when I was in your shoes, and your Dad certainly has some of his own examples that he'd prefer you not know about, based on some of the things I witnessed when we were students!"

Taiyang coughed uncomfortably into his fist as his daughters gave him some speculative stares. "Let's just say I won't go into the details and leave it at that."

Yang turned back to Qrow. "But I don't remember Ruby doing anything risky like that after she got her Aura?"

Said girl, still wrapped around Qrow's shin like a koala, puffed up in expectation of praise for her responsible behavior. "That's because the tyke was still too clumsy to get herself into any real trouble."

Ruby gave a scandalized glare at her uncle's flippant answer, before streaking up his back like a red squirrel to attack his scalp with a vicious noogie. "You take that back!"

The two blondes burst out laughing as Qrow yelped and staggered about the living room, little Ruby swinging like a pendulum from his neck, but refusing to cease her assault. The dusty Huntsman collapsed onto the couch and scooped his presumptuous niece into his lap, and suddenly the tables were turned as he pressed wiggling fingertips into her sides.

Ruby's helpless giggles only increased when Yang joined in with her own tickle attack. She couldn't muster any resistance in the face of this betrayal, only squirm and laugh until they finally relented, leaving her with tears trailing down her sore cheeks as she panted for breath. For a minute, all she could do was lay there gasping while they all had silly grins on their faces, silently enjoying the comfortable atmosphere.

"Ouch! What was that?" Until Yang moved her hand and felt something in Ruby's pocket poke her. Ruby's head shot up, but before she could say anything, her sister had already pulled the knife from its hiding place. "Wow sis." Yang marveled at the object's porcelain smoothness as she turned it in her hands, not quite recognizing what it resembled. "Where did you get this?"

Their father and uncle on the other hand, realized what the dagger looked like almost immediately, looking at each other in concern. As everyone expectantly turned to Ruby, she tried to swallow past her suddenly dry throat. This was _not_ how she planned to tell them about this. The timid girl slowly sat up onto the couch, before pulling back her sleeve to expose the now twice-wrapped tendril on her wrist. "Ah-well, heheh um…funny story…"

By the time Ruby was finished with her little tale, Yang was looking back and forth between the claw in her hands and her baby sister with a sort of horrified fascination, Qrow had his brows furrowed in a contemplative frown, and Taiyang was rubbing his forehead in exasperation. "Ruby..." he began.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry!" She blurted before he could get any further. "I know I shouldn't have gone out by myself but I just felt like I had to visit Mom right away for some reason and I didn't think there would be any Grimm around I swear I wasn't trying to get into trouble and-!" Her rambling apology ceased as Qrow patted her on the head and her father hurriedly kneeled in front of her.

"Hey hey. It's okay Rosebud, I'm not mad at you." He gently lifted her chin before wiping away the tears from the corners of her shimmering silver eyes. "It's just...you said that this happened the night before last?" When Ruby nodded, he was careful to keep any hint of accusation out of his voice. "Then why didn't you tell us about this earlier?"

Ruby sniffled. "Because I didn't know how to explain it. And I wanted to wait until Uncle Qrow was here to tell all of you." Yang carefully gave the dagger back to Ruby before pulling her into an awkward side hug, while Qrow gave another comforting pat.

"I appreciate the consideration kiddo, and... I think we might be able to explain what's going on with you." After his brother-in-law gave him a confirming nod, he met his niece's hopeful stare. "Do you think you can repeat what you did that night? Don't think about it too hard, just remember how it felt to make these things, and follow your instincts."

Ruby frowned uncertainly before nodding. "I'll try."

She lifted her right palm up and closed her eyes, her family watching her every move with laser focus. The crimson glow of her Aura surrounded her hand as she listened to the song of her soul. She quickly isolated some discordant notes in the melody, emotions that disturbed and distracted her.

Fear from whatever was happening to her, shame and regret from not telling her Dad about it sooner, and even a tiny bit of resentment towards Yang for forcing her to have this conversation before she was ready. She didn't like feeling any of these things very much, especially the last one, and she instinctively pushed them away, tracking their oily flow towards her hand.

As her attention expanded, she realized that she could also feel the other two objects she had affected with her power. The claw dagger was...muted, as if the caustic energy that had made it had been grounded and neutralized in its solid form, rendered inert. The rose on the other hand, it was _alive_. It pulsed and swelled with energy, like an overcharged battery, and it was drawing in still more.

Ruby could feel three other sources of this energy nearby, emanating from the same positions as her watching family members. As the waves of darkened emotions crossed the threshold of her Aura, they were automatically diverted into the rose for storage. Based on the situation, she guessed that these feelings she was picking up were worry, or perhaps anxiousness? _So that's what worry tastes like,_ she mused.

Now that she knew she could put negative emotions into the bracelet, she decided to try taking some out. With that thought, the end of the stem snaked to her palm and started dispensing some of the black goop, the tendril shortening in the process as it donated mass. Not wanting to lose any of this…Essence, to evaporation, Ruby tried to figure out what she would make with it.

Deciding to keep it simple, she just used the Beowolf dagger in her other hand as a template. The liquid started to condense with a series of pops and cracks. A few minutes later, and she opened her eyes to an exact duplicate of her knife, all the way down to the red detailing. And the rose had shrunk down to around its original length, only enough to circle around her wrist once.

Silence reigned in the living room, until her uncle gave her an encouraging pat on the back. "Well, I guess that answers that! Looks like you finally discovered your Semblance Ruby. Congrats!"

Ruby could only look at him in disbelief. A Semblance was the manifestation of a person's soul, the culmination of their Aura. It was a Huntsman or Huntress's secret weapon, the special power that was supposed to be completely unique to each person. Something that made you special, even within a world of heroes. Was her uncle saying that, _this_ , was supposed to be her Semblance?

Qrow frowned at his niece's reaction, or rather her lack of one. Discovering your Semblance was supposed to be a special occasion, something that everyone with an awakened Aura dreamed of accomplishing, though not everyone had what it took to do so. And not only that, she had done so at an incredibly early age, something she should be commended for.

But instead of laughter or cheers, it looked like Ruby might start crying at any moment. Did she realize something from this experiment that the rest of them hadn't been able to see from the outside?

"Hmm," he scratched at the stubble that had grown on his jaw from his lengthy mission, before getting to his feet. "I was planning to kick back for the rest of the day, and start on that training you kids have been pestering me about sometime tomorrow."

He bent over to pick up his dropped travel bag, sensing both of his nieces perk up at his words without even having to look. "But all things considered, I guess we'll have to get an early start." He returned Tai's rueful smile with his own smirk while the girls let out excited squeals, the previously somber atmosphere already forgotten.

"Just give me a chance to put away my stuff and wash up. I'll meet you in the yard, and your Pops can have you go through some warm ups and stretches in the meantime." Yang practically skipped out the front door, and Ruby was right behind her, before she remembered the two pointy objects that filled her hands. She wasn't sure what to do with them, until her Dad offered to hold onto them for her.

She was strangely reluctant to give up the daggers, but she quickly shook off her hesitation and handed them over. With the twin weapons in her father's safe keeping, Ruby was ready to start the next stage of her training. Her next step to becoming a Huntress.

"Come on Ruby, hurry up!" Yang was calling for her. Ruby took a deep breath, before rushing out into the bright sunshine with an equally brilliant smile.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Prepare For Your Greatest Moments

"Alright then pipsqueaks, listen up!" Ruby and Yang had been expecting their training with their Uncle Qrow to be great fun. That they'd spend most of their time mock sparring and horsing around, with their uncle taking the time to teach them some super-secret fighting moves every now and then. They couldn't have been more wrong.

Qrow had the two of them kneeling in the dirt outside their house, Taiyang standing behind them while desperately trying to muffle his laughter. Qrow's posture was absolutely rigid with his hands tightly clasped behind his back, and he was pacing back and forth before them with an almost exaggerated lockstep. They had the distinct impression that he was parodying a certain person, though they had no idea who it was.

"Now I haven't been keeping track of what exactly your Dad has been teaching you two when it comes to training, so I'm just going to start from the basics! First things first, can anyone tell me: What is Aura?" He suddenly stopped and spun to face them with a stern glare. "Yang!"

Said girl reflexively stiffened at attention. "Yes?!" Their apparent drill sergeant wasn't satisfied with her response.

"Answer the question!" he barked. Yang blinked to marshal her thoughts before nodding.

"Aura is the power of your soul, the light you use to push back the darkness of the Grimm. It protects you from harm, while making you stronger and faster than you could possibly be otherwise! And it's what lets us channel the power of Dust."

Qrow gave a considering nod. "Well that's a good description of what Aura does, but you haven't told me what Aura _is_." He continued before his nieces could get too confused.

"To put it simply, your Aura is _you_." he poked his finger into Yang's chest right over her heart to emphasize his words. "It's the light of your soul, your will and spirit made manifest. Everything about you, your thoughts, feelings, and personality, everything that makes you who you are, is represented by your Aura!"

Qrow's gaze started to shift to the distance as he got more and more impassioned, his words morphing from a simple lecture to a rousing speech. "It is through Aura that you can enforce your will upon the world itself, turning dreams into reality! Aura lets you reach the unreachable, see the invisible, break the unbreakable! If the whole world tells you that something's impossible, you use your Aura to grab the world by the throat and tell it to Go F-!"

Taiyang suddenly, and loudly, cleared his throat. Qrow froze with his hands half clenched in front of his face, red eyes rapidly flicking back and forth between his glaring brother-in-law and his nieces looking up at him with their heads innocently tilted to the side. "-ffffffforget about it."

He cleared his own throat, though much more awkwardly. Yang narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Somehow, she didn't think that was what her uncle was originally going to say.

"Anyways!" Qrow clapped his hands to draw attention away from his near slip up. "The point I was trying to make before I got carried away is that your Aura isn't just a fancy force field or strength booster, it's an extension of yourself. Which is why self-awareness and becoming more in tune with yourself is such an important part of training. After all, the strength of your Aura is affected by both your physical condition and your state of mind."

To demonstrate this he took up a stance that Ruby recognized from her meditation lessons. He firmly planted his feet shoulder width apart, and breathed in deeply through his nose while raising his flattened palms to chest height, before firmly lowering them with the exhale. His Aura became briefly visible as he did this, forming a solid outline despite its elusive dark grey color.

"Now you might be thinking that learning to use your Semblance is the final stage of developing your Aura, and once you do that, there's nothing more to learn and you're ready to be a Huntress. After all, your Semblance is your Aura's uniqueness dialed up to eleven, with your greatest strengths, and weaknesses, made apparent for all to see." Ruby squirmed uncomfortably despite the lack of judgmental gazes, and Yang rubbed her back comfortingly.

"But for a true warrior the journey to master your Aura, to master yourself, is never ending. Because the only limits of your Aura are those that you place upon it, and your Semblance will grow, change, and evolve along with you as you go through life." His voice lowered into an almost conspiratorial whisper, and his nieces leaned forward attentively.

"There are even old legends about people who have developed their Auras enough to become 'More than just a man.' Now what that means exactly is anyone's guess. Maybe their Aura was so sustaining that it made them into ageless immortals? Or perhaps they ascended beyond the need for flesh and blood bodies, becoming beings of pure Soul?" Their uncle grinned at the sparkles in their eyes. "If you train hard enough and keep moving forward, then maybe one day you'll find out."

At this point the two were positively vibrating in excitement. Yang pumped a fist into the air, "Well what's the holdup then? Let's get started!"

Ruby jumped to her feet, "Yeah! What're you going to teach us first?! How to use a sword like you? Shooting guns? How 'bout marital arts stuff?" She stiffened her fingers into knife hands and started swinging them through the air while going, "Hwaaah-cha!"

The scruffy Huntsman snorted at her antics, "I think you mean martial arts Ruby. Marital arts are, uh, something else." He coughed before bursting their bubble with a mischievous grin, "The first lesson I'm going to teach you is...how to run."

His nieces froze, with Ruby still balanced on one leg in an awkward imitation of a crane stance. "What." Their responses to this revelation were as flat as they were synchronized.

Qrow's grin became positively impish. "You didn't think that you could just skip over the basics did you? Just like you need to learn to walk before you can run, you need to run before you can fight." He raised a brusque hand to cut off their forming protests. "I'm not just messing with you, this is actually really important."

He started checking off points on his fingers one by one, "Agility is an essential characteristic for any Huntsman or Huntress. It doesn't matter how strong you are if you aren't fast enough to hit your target, and even the most durable shield bearers need to be able to dodge."

Yang tried to protest this, "But our Aura-"

"Aura's as fallible as the person using it." Her uncle interrupted, "It'll run out if you're careless, and then you'll be as vulnerable as a regular person, one slip away from death. That's a situation you need to avoid at all costs." The girls blanched at this and settled down.

Now that he knew they understood the seriousness of the subject, he gave them a reassuring smile. "Being quick on your feet isn't just important for combat. Despite all of the wonders of modern transportation, at the end of the day the most reliable way to get around is still your own two feet."

"This is especially the case out in the wilds, where most of your Grimm hunting missions will happen. When you're running to the rescue of people under attack, whether it's an individual or an entire village, then a bit of extra speed can mean all the difference."

All three members of his audience gave somber nods, and Qrow internally grimaced, knowing that his next point wouldn't be so easily accepted by two precocious kids who had been raised on tales of selfless heroism. "And at the end of the day, you also need to be able to safely retreat from fights that you can't win for one reason or another." For a moment it looked like the girls' eyes would bug out of their skulls in outrage.

He was ready to bulldoze right over their scandalized "What-?!"s and "But-!"s. This was an issue that he refused to be swayed from, and he knew that Tai had his back on this. Sure enough, the Xiao Long patriarch placed a broad hand on one of each of his daughters' shoulders and asked them to hear their tutor out when they turned to him. They eventually returned to their kneeling positions, though not without a fair amount of grumbling.

The lesson continued as if nothing had happened. "There's a difference between bravery and stupidity, and it is vital that you learn what it is. Knowing when to withdraw doesn't make you a coward. When it comes to the Grimm, there's always something bigger, and you need to be able to recognize when you've bit off more than you can chew."

"Aura can be depleted, teammates can be injured, ammunition can run out, and weapons can break. Dramatic last stands might put you in the history books and legends, but only after putting you in a Grimm's stomach. Nothing is worth sacrificing yourself for, especially not pride. You can't help anyone if you're dead, so if you have no other options, run, and live to fight another day."

He took a minute to let that sink in, massaging his neck with a grimace. "No." Qrow blinked, before looking down at Ruby with a raised eyebrow. The little girl was staring down at her own clenched fists, before she matched his askance stare. Her normally vibrant irises had sharpened into a determined, steely glint.

"A Huntress' duty is to protect people. We're the most important line of defense between them and the Grimm. If we run away and hide, then we'd just be leaving them to die instead. And I'll keep fighting to my last breath before I let that happen."

Silence reigned after that pronouncement, before Qrow's stance relaxed into his usual slouch. "That's certainly true. Well said kid."

Taiyang took over for him, "Don't be mad at your uncle Ruby, he wasn't telling you to leave people to the Grimm. If someone's depending on you to save them, then you should do everything you can to do so. Just," the smile he gave was both sad and proud, "don't be so eager to throw yourself into danger if you don't have too. For our sakes if nothing else."

Ruby understood what they were trying to tell her, and she gave everyone an apologetic smile. "I won't."

Meanwhile, Qrow was dusting off his hands. "Aaagh, all this serious talk is weighing me down. You guys are still years too early for most of this stuff anyway. How about we get moving already?" The girls popped back onto their feet, Yang already whinging at what she saw as a waste of time.

"Alright, let's get this over with. How far do you want us to jog then old man?" Qrow kept his patented sardonic smirk, but his eyes flashed dangerously.

"Oh? Didn't I just say to not underestimate the kind of running you'll have to do as a Huntress? This isn't going to be the little kid stuff you do in your P.E. classes. We're going to train not just your speed, but your balance and stamina too."

His hand whipped around to point at the trees that bordered their yard. "I want you two to try and keep up with me as we run through those woods. We're going to keep running until you need your Aura to keep going. And then we're going to keep running until your Aura gives out. And then we're going to run some more!"

Yang clenched her fists with a competitive flare in her purple eyes. "You're on!"

Ruby suspected that her sister was regretting her earlier bravado. She could hear her ragged panting over the thumps of her heavier footfalls on the forest floor. And when she took a glance at her out of the corner of her eye, she was positively _dripping_ with sweat, with her shirt soaked and her bangs flopping into her eyes.

When Yang met her gaze, Ruby gave her a hopefully encouraging smile, which she tiredly returned before lifting her drooping head and hissing her next breath through her teeth in determination. The younger sister was almost surprised that she didn't see any steam shooting out.

The red themed girl herself was holding up better, but honestly not by _that_ much. Both sisters had always been physically fit, or so they had thought until now. Although Ruby was certainly the fleeter footed of the two, as demonstrated by how she seemed to skip over the tree roots and rocks that Yang just kind of stomped over. Running had always just been…natural for her, easily falling into perfect form, pushing the limits of her speed, and feeling the wind whip past her.

And even though the only reason she and Yang were still running side by side was because she purposefully slowed down to match her pace, her biggest advantage was her much more developed Aura, which was also going to run out soon. Even now, she had to release another pulse of the rejuvenating energy to ease the burning of her muscles and the straining of her lungs.

But if Ruby was dancing her way between the obstacles in their course, then Qrow was floating through it. The showoff wasn't even breathing hard, even as he ran _backwards_ before them as he observed their performance with his hands tucked nonchalantly in his pants pockets.

Each push of his foot sent him skimming lazily over the underbrush, and he somehow avoided braining himself on any tree trunks or branches despite never looking where he was going. "C'mon Yang, pick those feet up! If you keep dragging them like that you'll just end up with a twisted ankle."

He easily ignored the death glare his golden haired niece sent his way, mostly because she couldn't give it any real energy. He suddenly appeared behind her with a stick in hand, which he used to start poking her in the small of her back.

"You think a pack of hungry Beowolves are going to play fair and stop chasing you to let you have a water break? If you're not moving you're dying, so Go Go Go!" It was difficult to tell whether the yell she gave was born of frustration or exertion, but Yang managed to find her second wind and picked up the pace regardless.

They went on like this for a while longer, but even their determination could only carry them so far. Eventually Qrow had them slow to a stop, with the last sparks of their Aura long since spent and Yang bent over with her hands on her knees, gasping for air. Qrow gave a satisfied nod, "Well done kiddos, we'll make proper Huntresses out of you in no time!"

"There's an experiment I want to try out, and I need to grab something for it real quick. So make your way back to the house for your cool down, and tell your Dad to take over 'til I get back. See ya!" And with that he disappeared before either of them could protest. The sisters turned back to where they came from and simultaneously groaned at the distance they would have to cover once more.

Taiyang tried not to chuckle as his daughters staggered back into the yard, the pair forced to lean on each other for support. Before they could collapse onto the ground, he held out two bottles of water for them.

"Drink slowly now, otherwise you'll throw it up." he cautioned as they gratefully snatched up the bottles, barely managing to follow his advice and restrain themselves from guzzling it all as quickly as they could. He gave them time to drink and catch their breath, but when he saw Yang try to sit down on the ground, he tapped her on the shoulder to keep her on her feet.

"I know you're tired, but you shouldn't just fall over. You'll feel a lot better once you get some Aura back, so let's use this opportunity to practice recharging it." The ten year old grumbled but eventually followed her father and sister's example, taking up a stance similar to the one Qrow demonstrated earlier, slowly breathing in through their noses and out through their mouths. As the sisters' breath evened out and their heartbeats slowed, the glow of their Auras returned, soothing their aches and pains.

"So where'd your uncle disappear to?" their Dad took the opportunity to ask.

Ruby answered him, "He said that he needed to pick up something real quick, and that you should take over for now."

Taiyang huffed in annoyance, "Figures. Alright then, since you've just finished the cardio, we'll do some strength training drills until he gets back. Now drop and give me twenty!" More groans were had, but at least their Dad was sporting enough to drop down to join them in their push-ups.

Ruby managed to force some questions out through her grunts of effort, "How much more, grr, of this basic stuff, huff, do we gotta do? Guh, what about those, mmm, Aura techniques, hahhh, you've been teaching me?" Her Dad had no such trouble, his tattoo rippling over the muscles of his right arm as he responded.

"Developing your fitness is the foundation for all your future training. Aura doesn't just add to your physical abilities, it multiplies them, so you shouldn't forget to train your body along with your soul. After all, a hundred times zero will just equal zero."

After the twentieth push-up, they all rose to their feet. "You two are actually luckier than most, since your Auras will build you up as quickly as you can wear yourself down, instead of waiting for days to see the results of your workouts like most people. You'll be able to go through months' worth of exercise in just a few weeks!"

Yang blinked before flexing one of her arms, trying to see if there was any difference in its definition. She quickly lowered it with a blush when Ruby snickered at her posing.

Taiyang lead them through a series of basic exercises: sit-ups, pull-ups, chin-ups, squats, jumping jacks, and more. He told them that they'd be able to start doing some weight training once he got ahold of some appropriately sized weights for them. "Why can't we just use your weights Dad?" Yang asked, "Won't lifting the heavier stuff make us stronger faster?"

The brawler shook his head, "Even with Aura, you'll hurt yourself if you go for the heaviest weights from the get go instead of working your way up to them. We'll go through this one step at a time, there's no rush."

He perked up when he heard a rustling sound approaching from the trees, along with a…growling? His eyes narrowed and he dropped into a fighting stance, "Girls, get behind me!"

They immediately obeyed, with Ruby plucking her two daggers from the back of her Dad's belt and handing one to Yang. The tension built as the disturbance steadily approached, only for them to relax as a familiar caped figure pushed his way out of the bushes. "Ah Qrow, there you are. Did you find what you were looking for?"

The lanky scythe master gave a predatory grin in response, "As a matter of fact I did!" And with that he finished dragging his burden out into the open.

"What the hell Qrow?!"


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: We Can't Just Cling to Childish Things

"What the hell Qrow?!"

The three of them recoiled when they saw what their relative was dragging with him: an adult Creep, snarling past the leather straps around its muzzle and limply flopping its two legs behind it.

"Relax Tai." The irresponsible Huntsman grunted as he dropped the weakly struggling monster into the dirt at his feet, before stepping onto its neck to pin it in place. "I broke both of its limbs and muzzled it, it's perfectly safe. Don't need to worry about its friends either."

Taiyang growled in disgust and annoyance, but he could see that Qrow was right. To be honest it didn't look like the reptilian Grimm would last much longer regardless, after what it had been put through.

"Anyways, there's a reason I went through the trouble of capturing this thing." Qrow leaned over to look at his nieces, "Ruby!"

Said girl, who had been studying the Creep in fascination, jumped at the call, "Yes?"

Her uncle pointed at the dagger in her hand, "You said that the Grimm smoke you used to make that thing stopped evaporating when you injected it with your Aura right?" At her hesitant nod, he gestured to the crippled beast under his shoe like he was presenting it to her on a platter. "So what'll happen when you use your Aura on a Grimm as you're killing it? Will it stay in one piece?"

She paused for a bit before cautiously approaching, taking the time to observe this less familiar monster. If nothing else, the existence of Creeps disproved the old legends that the creatures of Grimm came from animals possessed by evil spirits.

With only two, surprisingly agile, clawed limbs, a reptilian body, and helmet-like skull mask sturdy enough to head-butt through stone and concrete, Creeps bore little resemblance to any real animal. As she got closer, the red glow through the slits in its mask focused on her, and its futile struggles increased.

Intellectually, Ruby understood that Grimm were soulless engines of hate and death, and as such did not experience pain in the same way that truly living beings did. But that didn't mean that she wanted to put it through any more suffering than she needed to.

With her resolve firmed, she stepped forward and shoved her knife through its eye and into the brain, feeling her Aura flow from her blade into its body as she did so. The Grimm slumped over, so Ruby and her uncle stepped back, watching it carefully.

The four family members waited with bated breath as the seconds ticked by, gradually turning into minutes. When half an hour had passed without a single wisp of smoke appearing, Qrow dusted off his hands in vindication.

"Looks like that solves another mystery. With this, little Ruby's going to be the envy of everyone who goes Grimm hunting for sport." Tai shot him a glare at that, which he studiously ignored as he walked up to the corpse and crouched next to it. As he undid the straps around the beak-like muzzle, he beckoned both of his nieces over.

"You two bring those blades over here. This isn't how I was expecting to teach you how to field dress a carcass, but let's see if we can get anything useful out of this critter. We'll get a quick Grimm anatomy lesson in too while we're at it."

Ruby and Yang looked at each other before swallowing and descending upon the kill with knives in hand. Taiyang meanwhile, was trying massage away his growing migraine, but he followed them all the same.

Qrow started off by pointing out the most prominent and unique body parts of the monster, explaining what they were used for and what to watch out for in a fight. From the bludgeoning skull, to the crushing and tearing jaws, to the spiked spine, to the thick tail. Yang's lips thinned at the wet crackling sounds a leg made as Qrow shifted it around to display the claws.

"But now, we get to study something no one else in history has before: a Grimm's insides." He pushed the Creep onto its side and traced a line down its belly from the base of the throat to its featureless groin with his finger.

"Cut along here. Try to keep it shallow to avoid rupturing any organs that might be in there." Yang grimaced, her face rapidly paling, but she gamely hooked her dagger into the appropriate spot and started sawing away.

But when she was not much more than halfway through, a brief surge of warm, red and black viscera came spilling out over her hands. "Uuuurgh!" She couldn't take it anymore. The blonde shot to her feet, dripping hands held as far away from her body as possible while she struggled not to lose her lunch.

She went running over to her father, who was already standing ready with the garden hose. Her uncle's grating laughter chased her the whole way.

"If you don't like dealing with Grimm blood, then maybe blades just aren't for you! We'll keep that in mind when we get to weapons training!" Qrow cackled as he turned back to finish the dissection, only to find Ruby had already forced down her own bile and disgust to take over for her sister. In seemingly no time at all, the Creep was split open, exposing nothing but indistinguishable shapes all in the same shade of red.

Qrow rubbed his chin, perplexed. "Huh, I'm not quite sure what to make of this." He started pointing uncertainly at bits of offal, "I think that's the stomach. And that right there might be the heart, maybe? And the lungs are, uh, hmm..." He was left scratching his head for a bit, before he just gave up on his identification attempts. "I think we'll just have to hold off on this until we can get an expert opinion. In the meantime…"

Qrow eyed some of the exposed muscle speculatively. "I wonder if you could cook it now that it's like this..."

Taiyang looked at him as if he couldn't believe his ears, "You can't possibly be serious Qrow."

Yang, now that her hands were clean, chimed in as well, "That's disgusting!"

The prospective Grimm connoisseur was quick to defend himself, "Hey it's not _that_ bad of an idea! If I were able to eat any monster I killed, I'd never go hungry while on a mission again!"

Since her other relatives were too flabbergasted at this logic to respond, Ruby took it upon herself to ask the obvious question, "What if it's poisonous?"

Her uncle shrugged, "Only one way to find out." With that he touched a fingertip to some of the Grimm blood before dabbing it onto the tip of his tongue. The effect was immediate: spitting, hacking, and cursing while he fumbled for his hip flask to wash away the vile taste.

After a couple of desperate gulps, he was eventually able to sputter out, "Ok, yeah no, it tastes exactly the same as it smells: like ash and rot. Unfortunately, Grimm burgers are officially off the table." He turned to Ruby while doing his best to ignore Yang's cackling in the background over the karmic justice, "Let's just forget about that and move on."

He guided his little niece through all the necessary steps for butchering the carcass, with Taiyang offering some periodic comments and Yang observing from a clean distance. They peeled away the skin, extracted the claws, spikes, and bone plates, as well as the actual skeletal components.

When they were left with an unsightly pile of meat, blood, and squishy guts, Qrow asked Ruby if there was any way she could make use of it. It didn't take her long to discover that she could release the...remains, from the stasis she had put upon it.

The resulting cloud of Grimm Essence was sucked into her storage bracelet with a thought, the rose stem lengthening and even sprouting another flower bud further up her forearm. It was smaller than the first one, not as developed or blooming yet, though she suspected it wouldn't stay that way.

Qrow even managed to pry the Grimm mask off of the skull with a bit of leverage. "Heh, never thought I'd see a genuine Grimm trophy." he remarked as he hefted his prize up and down, "Maybe you two can mount this on your bedroom wall!" The girls looked at the eye slits of the mask, and imagined it staring down at them accusingly as they tried to sleep.

Yang spoke for the both of them as they shook their heads, "Thanks but no thanks."

Their blood splattered uncle shrugged, "Eh, fine. I'll just mount it in my own room."

Tai rubbed his eyes tiredly, "Qrow, that's the guest room remember? What do you think will happen if we have anyone else stay over?" His concerns were casually waved away.

"Don't worry about it, plenty of people have phony Grimm decorations, they'll never suspect that it's actually the real thing. The short-stack's secret will be safe."

"So I do have to keep it a secret after all?" They turned at the hesitant question to find Ruby fiddling with one of the bigger leg bones, refusing to meet any of their gazes. "My Semblance I mean. It makes sense I guess, all it would do is scare people if they knew. It's better if no one else finds out about what I can do, so they don't treat me like the monster I am."

"""Ruby!""" They all gasped, and the bone hit the grass with a dull thunk as Yang squeezed her baby sister in her arms.

"Don't say that!" Ruby shook her head against Yang's dampening shoulder.

"But it's true! My Semblance makes me no different than the Grimm!"

Yang put her hands on Ruby's cheeks, "Ruby, look at me." She did so slowly, and the tears mixed with the sense of utter defeat in her eyes made Yang's heart ache in her chest.

But she looked deeply into those cloudy steel pools with a gentle smile. She hummed thoughtfully, "Hmm, no glowing red eyes." The crimsonette blinked in confusion before her lips were pulled into a stretched grin by her big sister's thumbs, exposing her small white teeth. "No man eating fangs."

The golden locked girl placed a solemn kiss on her forehead before pulling her close once more. "No white mask or black skin either. Nope, you don't look like a Grimm to me." Ruby could only sniffle, her hands bunched so tightly in the back of her sister's shirt, as if she thought that she would fly apart if she didn't.

"Your sister's right Ruby." They broke their embrace as their uncle kneeled to their level. As he gripped Ruby softly but firmly by the shoulders, he looked more serious than they had ever seen him before.

His eyes held such intensity that she forgot to breathe for a moment. "Let me make this absolutely clear. Ruby Rose, you are _not_ a monster. And don't you _ever_ , let anyone tell you otherwise. Okay?"

She remembered herself enough to attempt one last feeble protest, "B-but my Semblance, with the Grimm and..."

"And it's nothing to be ashamed about." Taiyang had finally recovered from the shock of his youngest daughter's words. "Ruby, your Semblance is a gift, not some kind of curse. What makes a power good or evil is how you use it, nothing more and nothing less. Do you plan to use this to hurt people or do bad things?" She shook her head with frantic denial, and he smiled down at her. "Then as long as you remember that, you'll have nothing to worry about."

Her shimmering eyes moved back and forth between them all, seeing the same love and acceptance in every face. She started hiccupping, the noises she made as her family quietly embraced her an incomprehensible mixture of laughter and sobbing. But the tears that fell were now those of joy, and they washed her clean.

Eventually the calls of the forest birds returning to their roosts caused Qrow to raise his head, taking in how low the sun was in the ochre sky. He straightened up, and the rest reluctantly followed suit, Ruby wiping her nose on her sleeve. He released a long exhalation, "Man, what a day. I think we should follow our feathered friends' example."

Their father nodded in agreement, "How about you two go inside and get washed up. Qrow, can you put this stuff away in my workshop while I get dinner ready?"

His teammate chuckled, "Sounds like a plan."

Ruby collapsed into bed, too drained from the day's events to ask Yang for a bedtime story. Not that she would force her equally exhausted sister to stay up for her sake like that. Even though she knew that Yang would do so without complaint if it meant comforting her little sister. Rather, that's exactly why Ruby refrained from her selfish request.

But even though neither of them could muster the energy for their normal bedtime routine, Yang insisted on fulfilling her big sister duties. Without even needing to be asked, she slipped in beside Ruby and pulled the covers over them.

A small part of Ruby wanted to protest this, she was supposed to be a big girl now after all. But the rest of her was simply grateful for the warm comfort as an arm wrapped around her diminutive frame. While Yang passed out immediately with a slurred "G'night," Ruby's thoughts still turned over sluggishly in her head.

Dinner had been a quiet but comfortable affair, filled with an air of easy acceptance. They still needed discuss what to do about her Semblance of course.

Uncle Qrow had said that there was someone he wanted to talk to about this, and he would send a message asking for whatever help or advice they could give soon. When her Dad had expressed concern over this, her uncle was quick to reassure him.

"I know you're not as close to him Tai, but he's seen a lot of strange things in his time. He's probably the most unflappable guy I've ever met, and he's a good person. He'll know what to do."

Ruby didn't know anything more about this person, but if her uncle had such faith in them, then she would trust his judgment. Hopefully they'd be able to help. In the meantime, she and Yang would continue with their training schedule.

Soon they'd be moving on to fighting moves and sparring, once their Dad and uncle were satisfied with their basic conditioning and knew they wouldn't hurt themselves, or each other.

Ruby released a soft yawn and snuggled deeper into her sister's side, her eyes drifting shut as soft breaths rustled her hair. _Things will be better tomorrow..._ Throughout that night, her dreams were filled with incomprehensible shapes of black, white, and red.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Every Step Ascending

Uncle Qrow had said that as amazing as Aura was, it didn't make you invincible. Later, more detailed lessons had described the dangers an Aura enhanced fighter needed to be aware of.

Things like points, edges, and bullets, which concentrated force into a small area, would drain more Aura with each hit. And if enough force was put behind them, they could even break through completely, even if the Aura hadn't been drained yet.

Explosions and blunt impacts on the other hand, spread out their damage over the body, so there was less risk of penetration. But some of the concussive energy could still bleed through to harm the vulnerable body beneath.

This would explain why Ruby's vision exploded into a starburst of pain when her big sister's fist smashed into her nose.

"Ruby!" Yang cried out in horror as the red themed girl was sent tumbling onto her back.

"Owie..." Ruby's pitiful voice was muffled from her hands clutching her face. She blinked the tears from her throbbing nose away to see the blonde hovering over her, hands fluttering in distress as though she was afraid of touching her again.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry I didn't think I'd get through your guard like that! Are you okay? Oh what am I saying, of course you're not!" When the battered girl hesitantly lowered her hands to respond, she was interrupted by her erstwhile opponent's gasp.

"Oh no you're bleeding! What have I done?! What do I do?!" Her answer came with a set of knuckles rapping her on the head.

"First of all, you can stop freaking out. You're scaring her by making that love tap sound way worse than it is." Qrow knelt down and carefully pulled Ruby's hands away, not even blinking at her bloody nose. He pulled out a crumpled handkerchief to wipe away the scarlet spatter before inspecting the damage.

"Ib ogay 'ang, I know 'oo di'nt 'ean ib." Ruby tried to reassure her chastised sister through the cloth covering her nostrils. Her Uncle studied her face for a bit before nodding.

"She's fine, you didn't do any lasting damage, and her Aura's already stopped the bleeding." He grinned when the little trooper took the wrinkled hanky from him to blow the last dregs of blood from her nasal passages.

"You don't need to worry about her so much Dandelion. Learning how to take a hit is just as important in sparring as dishing it out, and her Aura's a lot stronger than yours anyway. That was a good punch though." Yang's grimace made it clear that she didn't fully agree with her uncle's words. But Ruby knew he was telling the truth.

Her three year head start in unlocking her Aura meant that Yang had been playing catchup to her throughout their training so far. Whether it was strength, speed, endurance, or technique, the older girl found herself outclassed in everything. That is, until they got started on hand to hand combat.

Frankly, Yang was a natural. They both picked up the lessons well enough, learning the proper stances and footwork, how to punch and kick, block and parry, grapple and throw, dodge and weave. But Yang always went about it with the kind of easy confidence and unthinking prowess that showed she truly was her father's daughter.

Ruby just couldn't put her all into it in the same way. Her empty hands always felt so flimsy to her, even though she could easily punch through wooden boards. Not to mention that her shorter reach was quite the disadvantage, as shown by this result of their latest bout.

"Well, now that that emergency is dealt with, are we ready for round two?" While Ruby put up her dukes with a determined bounce on the balls of her feet, Yang looked far more hesitant at their uncle's question.

She pulled her growing mass of hair over one shoulder and started combing her fingers through it, obviously still feeling guilty over bloodying her sister. Their referee pursed his lips in thought before moving to a nearby bench with a twinkle in his eyes.

"On second thought, how about we take a break from fisticuffs for now and move on to weapons?" Now Yang looked nervous for an entirely different reason, while Ruby flashed an eager grin.

Their father had managed to "borrow" some training weapons from Signal's supplies for the summer break, though he could only get away with a few of the most basic types. Qrow perused the limited selection of blunted instruments before snatching up a pair of straight swords and tossing them to his students.

His older niece looked at the hunk of metal that she caught with distaste, but gripped it firmly with both hands and took up a basic stance regardless. The younger one on the other hand, twirled the weighted sword like a baton.

 _Now this is more like it_. All of the surety she was lacking before came rushing back now that she had a weapon in hand. With her skills in Aura channeling and reinforcement, she could turn almost any object into a usable weapon, even something as flimsy or silly as a loaf of bread. But using something that was actually designed for combat needed much less Aura to stay in one piece.

She wasn't the biggest fan of the straight sword, it was a little too simple and boring for her tastes. It slashed okay, it stabbed okay, it parried okay, and it had an okay reach. But it was balanced and reliable. One of the classics.

 _I can't wait until I can go to Signal._ According to her Dad, the combat school's training facilities had examples of all but the most esoteric of weapons to help their students find the specific style that fit them best. But even training weapons weren't free, so until they were old enough to enroll, they would just have to make do with what they had.

She took a low stance across from her sister, with her blade already pulled back to swing, and waited for her uncle's signal. The tension built as they stared each other down. Their breathing was inaudible over the dry wind, and the sun beat down on their heads. A bead of sweat dripped down Ruby's face, but it didn't get close to her eyes, so she ignored it.

The red combatant knew that even though Yang had even less love for the sword than she did, she would still have a solid defense. She would need to open with something unexpected to get through it.

"Ready? Set. Begin!"

So she immediately flung her sword at Yang point first. Caught off guard, Yang's eyes widened in surprise and she only partially blocked the streak of metal, the dull edge clipping her arm and sparking off her Aura.

The sword had barely bounced before it was snatched by an already airborne Ruby. She flipped over her opponent while delivering a brief flurry of slashes, about half of which were successfully blocked, draining even more of the protective energy.

As she landed behind Yang, she tried to sweep her legs out from under her with a low kick.

But her sister was already diving into a forward roll to disengage. As soon as she got her feet back on the ground, she surged back with a powerful horizontal swing.

Powerful, but heavily telegraphed, which is why Ruby managed to duck it, though her hair was tossed by its passage. Seizing her opportunity, she stepped under Yang's overextended reach and planted her shoulder into her stomach, before flipping her onto her back. Sometimes being short was an advantage.

"Whuff!" Yang's breath was knocked out of her as she hit the ground. Before she could gather herself, a sword "point" appeared before her face, making her go slightly cross eyed.

"And that round goes to Ruby! Those were some risky maneuvers there Ace, but you pulled them off, so I guess I can't complain." Yang didn't pay much attention to her uncle's words, instead staring at her sister dazedly before taking her offered hand and letting herself get lifted up.

"Yang, are you okay? I didn't hit your head did I?" The older sister still didn't respond as she looked down at their joined hands, her own engulfing the other, a tiny grasp that still pulled her up with such ease.

"You're amazing sis." This time the eight year old was the one caught off guard. She blinked before socking Yang playfully on the shoulder and turning away, unable to hide her bashful blush or goofy smile.

"Come on, don't say that! I'm nothing special." Yang opened her mouth to contest her sister's humility, to encourage her and make her see herself as the prodigy that she knew her to be. But her uncle interjected before she could.

"You're selling both yourself and your sister short kid. Only the most hardcore frontier dwellers unlock their Auras as early as you two have, and you're progressing at a crazy pace. By the time either of you get into Signal, you'll already be way ahead of your classmates from day one. Just don't let it go to your heads, and remember that there's always someone stronger, and you'll go far." He collected the pair of training swords and placed them back on the bench.

"In the meantime, Yang, you've probably only got a sliver of Aura left after that throw. So you should practice your meditation and get it recharged before we continue. For this session I want you to ask yourself: 'What scares me, and why?' Hop to it." While the blonde moved over to the porch to sit down cross-legged on a mat, Ruby raised her hand.

"Does that mean I can work on my projects while Yang's busy?" Qrow shrugged in response.

"If you want, go ahead. Just stay safe, and call for me or your dad if you need us." The cheeky red head gave a mock salute before speeding off to the workshop at the back of the house. Qrow watched her go with a rueful shake of his head, before he went back to securing the equipment.

"And you said you'd make a terrible teacher." The scythe slinger looked up to see his brother-in-law leaning on the porch railing above him. The knowing grin he sported was completely insufferable.

"I still would." Qrow glanced to where Yang was pretending not to listen to them a few feet away, purple eyes peeking open every now and then.

"I can make an exception for these two cause they're family, they're adorable, and they're smart enough to listen to what I have to teach them. But the thought of having to wrangle a new batch of other brats every year makes me want to tear my hair out."

Taiyang snorted at his grousing, "It's really not as bad as that Qrow. And I think that if anyone can put some uppity snots in their place, it's you." When he got an acknowledging grunt in response, he decided to keep pushing.

"You can still go on missions if that's what you're worried about. Don't even have to take a full-time position if you want a more open schedule."

"Well that's good to hear. Don't want to lose my edge and get soft like some other people." He reached up and poked Taiyang in the stomach, which was as hard as iron despite his ribbing.

"Hey, you have to be in top shape if you're going to keep control over a bunch of kids with growing superpowers!" Tai chuckled. "So, what do you think?"

Qrow rubbed at the back of his neck with a put upon grimace. "I'll admit that the idea's growing on me. And it'd let me make sure that the two troublemakers don't start slacking off once they get in!"

He made sure that Yang could hear this last part, receiving a loudly exaggerated "Ohhhmmmmmmm!" in response.

"Heh, smartass."

Happy with his progress against his teammate's stubbornness, Tai pushed himself off the railing. "Whew, it's a scorcher today. How do you guys feel about some iced tea?"

Qrow resembled his namesake as he perked up hopefully, "Long Islands?"

"No."

"Dammit."

...

"Almost...got it!" Ruby smiled as she put the finishing touches on her latest item. She ran her fingers over the stitching, not finding any irregularities, and admiring the smooth sheen of the black leather.

The "workshop" was really more of a shed attached to the back of the cabin where their Dad could store the tools he needed to maintain his equipment, sharing the cramped space with the other, more mundane tools they used around the house and yard.

In her efforts to craft something out of the Creep parts they harvested, Ruby had quickly appropriated the room for her own use, since they were being stored there anyway. At the moment she was seated at the scratched up work table, her project surrounded by tools, opened instructional books, and her Scroll.

She had botched her first few attempts at leather working and carving, forced to absorb the haphazard results to avoid wasting the material. The memory of her overambitious attempt to make a Grimm bone replica of her uncle's weapon still made her wince.

But after taking the time to actually seek out and study the few books related to the subject they had lying around the house, and looking up the remaining information online, she had progressed at a frightening pace.

Having determined that she couldn't just carry her daggers around in her pockets, she set out to put together some appropriate sheaths, and a belt to go with them. With her Semblance to make up for her lack of experience and providing shortcuts, she was able to do so rather quickly.

She cut, layered, and folded the pebbly skin into the needed shapes and thickness. She formed a bone needle threaded with a silk-like cord produced by her Rose to stitch it all together. But she wasn't satisfied with the bare minimum, and soon found herself going a bit overboard.

Instead of the basic belt buckle she originally settled on, she ended up carving an elaborate rose design that she planned to use for her future emblem. Spare strips of the textured skin was wrapped around the hilts of the knives to improve their grip, with more Essence added to give them proper handguards (and so they would make satisfying clicks when put into the reinforced sheathes).

She put together so many nifty little skin pouches and bone cases that it ended up looking more like a superhero's utility belt than anything else. At least she'd be able to carry all of the bits and bobs she might need while out in the field. She was already using one to store her sewing supplies.

Now that she'd finished her first project, her head was filled with all sorts of ideas and designs for clothes, armor, weapons, and other accessories that she could make. There was just one problem: she was out of materials.

While she could form new parts directly out of Grimm Essence, she only had so much of it stored up. While her Rose's stock of Essence could be steadily replenished with her own negative emotions, it wasn't enough to supply everything she needed.

And she had discovered that any time she converted Grimm material from one form to another, some of the Essence was lost in the process. Sort of like how energy was lost as heat in those "laws of thermodynamos" from Yang's physics homework.

It was less wasteful to physically harvest and craft Grimm parts, only using Essence shaping when she had to. And it was more fun working with her hands anyways.

So no matter how Ruby thought about it, there was only one solution to her supply problem: she needed to go out and hunt more Grimm.

The little craftswoman hopped off her stool and picked up her creation. She pulled the belt around her waist and sheathed the Beowolf daggers at her hips, the weight already secure and comforting.

She flung open the door to the main house and skipped to the living room, where her family was just setting out some oversized glasses of iced tea, their sides dripping with condensation. Ruby licked her lips, only now realizing that she had rushed straight to her workbench after training in the hot sun all morning.

Her Dad looked up in surprise, "Oh Ruby, there you are! We were just about to call you in." The thirsty girl thanked him before guzzling down her own beverage. She was so focused on quenching herself that she completely forgot to show off her creation until her sister pointed it out.

"Hey, do we finally get to see what you've been working on now that you're finished?" Ruby blinked at her with the glass still held to her lips with both hands, before she remembered why she came in here in the first place.

"Oh right." She sheepishly put down her cup before twirling in place and putting her hands on her hips with a belated, "Ta da!"

Uncle Qrow looked up from his Scroll as he lounged on the couch, the reversed images of mission board offers visible through the transparent screen. "Looking sharp there kid, that's some professional level craftsmanship you've made for yourself. Makes me wonder what else you'll be able to put together."

Ruby nervously poked her index fingers together, "Well, that's the thing. There's a lot more stuff that I know I can make, but I'm low on materials. So I was wondering, the next time you go Hunting if..." She forced down her uncertainty and met her uncle's gaze directly, "You'd take me with you?"

Before anyone could react to her request, there was a polite knocking at their front door.

"Now who could that be?" Taiyang got up and opened the portal, revealing a rather curious man. At first Ruby thought he was old, due to his grey hair and the elegant cane he carried. But he stood straight and tall, and closer inspection revealed that there were no wrinkles on his face.

He was dressed in a suit despite the sweltering heat outside, with an emerald green scarf tucked into his collar. Behind a strangely designed set of full-moon spectacles were a pair of gentle brown eyes, heavy with experience and strength.

"Professor Ozpin?" Her father looked baffled at this man's presence, so he obviously hadn't been expecting him.

"Taiyang, it's been too long." His voice matched his appearance, cultured and soft spoken, but in a way that subtly commanded attention regardless. "I hope I'm not intruding by dropping by unannounced."

"Not exactly unannounced, I called you after all." Her uncle carefully extricated himself from the couch cushions and walked over to greet the new arrival. "I just didn't expect you to go through the trouble of coming here in person. A Scroll call would have been enough."

"Not at all, I'm happy to provide personal assistance for my friends, and this is as much a social visit as anything else." The hand that wasn't resting on the cane handed Taiyang a small gift basket.

"It's a relief to get away from the endless paperwork every now and then. Besides," his gaze drifted over to the two sisters still sitting awkwardly in the living room. "Some of the things you told me have left me...intrigued."

He made his way over to them, his smooth strides belying any need for his cane. He reached Yang first, greeting her with an enigmatic smile.

"Hello Yang Xiao Long, it's a pleasure to meet you." Unsure of what to do, the ten year old could only eye him dubiously.

"Er, hi I guess." Before she could ask who he was or what was going on, he had already moved on to the youngest member of the family.

"Ruby Rose." He leaned over to look her right in the eye. "You..." It was all Ruby could do not to shrink back from the intensity of that gaze. It felt like the man was looking into her very soul, though she didn't know what he saw in her.

"Have silver eyes." He finished. Said argent orbs could only blink in confusion from this apparent non sequitur.

"Uh um-." She tried to put together an answer to this obvious pronouncement, but she needn't have bothered.

"So!" The inscrutable stranger cut her off as he suddenly straightened up. But the smile he gave tempered whatever annoyance she might have felt. It was like...he was privy to fascinating little secrets that he couldn't wait to share with her, as long as she was willing to do the same.

"Your uncle has informed that me you possess a most interesting Semblance. Would you care to tell me about it?"


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Sow the Death and Reap the Seed

For a moment, they just stared at each other as the man patiently waited for Ruby's answer.

"Uh...no?" Their suited guest blinked, clearly not expecting that response.

"No? May I ask why not?"

"Well I don't mean to be uh, mean. But who are you? I don't think I'm supposed to talk about it with strangers." Grey brows lifted in comprehension.

"You...don't know who I am?" At Ruby's sheepish nod, the man looked like he was resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Well this is just embarrassing." he muttered to himself. He straightened up and placed a hand on his chest.

"Then let us start at the beginning. I am Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Huntsman Academy." Both girls' eyes widened in realization.

"You're in charge of the hero school?!" the eight year old exclaimed, hands clasped to her chin in excitement. The headmaster visibly struggled to contain his amusement at this display.

"Well, I've never heard it described in those terms, but yes." Her uncle stepped in before she could get her motor mouth started and derail the conversation with a hundred questions.

"Oz here isn't just our old headmaster, he's also kind of my boss, and he's the person I called for advice about your Semblance. It's okay for you to tell him about it Ruby."

"Before that, it's pretty silly for us to just be standing around while talking about this." her Dad interrupted. "Could I get you something to drink Professor? We just made some iced tea, though I can brew some coffee for you if you prefer."

The headmaster settled into the armchair across from Ruby with a grateful smile. "You graduated from being one of my students long ago, and are now a teacher in your own right Taiyang. You can just call me Ozpin. And iced tea sounds lovely, thank you."

...

Professor Ozpin proceeded to question Ruby about what she had learned about her Semblance so far, his queries punctuated by contemplative sips of iced tea. He examined each of the items she had made, the storage rose holding his interest in particular. His interview was thorough, and revealed certain details that her family, and even Ruby herself hadn't considered or had taken for granted.

"And this 'Grimm Essence' as you call it, you're able to gather it from both defeated Grimm and negative emotions?"

"Yeah, I mean, there's some small differences, but it's basically all the same to my Semblance."

"Hmm, how enlightening." Qrow looked over at his superior's murmuring.

"How so?" The professor obliged and adopted the practiced air of a lecturer.

"Despite the endless years spent by mankind attempting to understand our oldest foe, the true nature of the Grimm has always been an elusive mystery. There have been countless theories put forth, with no means of providing proof one way or the other." He paused to quench his thirst once more, before continuing.

"One of these theories is that the reason the Creatures of Grimm are attracted to our negative emotions is because they feed upon it in place of physical sustenance, through a process that we cannot see. If young Ruby here is correct, then this theory might have just been proven true. The Grimm don't just use our darker natures to find us, but to fuel their growth and strengthen themselves as well."

"So even with the Grimm, we're our own worst enemies. The only way to stop feeding them is for everyone in the world to be happy and content." Her uncle gave a dark chuckle at that revelation. "Like that's ever going to happen."

"Before we start making plans to reshape the world, I believe I should continue with my questions." Ozpin attempted to move past that depressing thought. "Now, you've already told me that you can gather and shape negative emotions, so that must mean that you're able to sense them in some way. Can explain what that is like?"

"Uh, sure." The tip Ruby's tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth in concentration. "Well, using my own is easy. Whenever I'm feeling bad, and I don't want to, I just take it away and turn it into Essence. When other people are feeling it, if I concentrate really hard, then I can feel the Essence coming from them, kind of like heat and light from a fire. And I absorb whatever touches my Aura, like a plant with sunlight, only y'know, darker."

"Whoa whoa, hold on." Her father held up a worried hand, "Are you saying that you can force yourself not to feel those emotions?"

His daughter tilted her head, not seeming to see anything wrong with this, "Yes?"

"That's-!"

"Something we should address after we've learned all of her Semblance's mechanics." Ozpin gently cut him off. He turned back to Ruby as both adults struggled to remain silent. "To expand on that, are you able to drain the negative emotions of others as well as yourself? Are you able to sense the presence of regular Grimm as well as your constructs? And can you drain Essence from Grimm that are still alive?"

"Uh..." Ruby blinked at the burst of questions, "I don't know, I haven't really tried any of those things. I really need to concentrate to find other sources of Essence, and I still can't "see" very far when I do."

The green clad professor nodded in acceptance despite the lack of information, then got up and paced over to the nearest window. He stared out into the afternoon with an unfocused gaze, humming in contemplation with occasional slurps of tea.

Everyone just kind of stared at him for a bit before Yang whispered out of the side of her mouth, "What just happened, why's he just standing there and ignoring us?"

"Don't worry about it, he's just in his 'pondering mode'. He'll get back to us soon." Qrow waved off her concern, before focusing on Ruby with a steely glint in his eye. "In the meantime, I believe you were asking me to take you Grimm Hunting before we were interrupted?"

"Uh, yes?" The crimsonette didn't look so certain anymore. "Although now I'm wondering if it's even safe for me to harvest Grimm parts."

"I don't think that'll be a problem, though we'll let Oz have the final word on that. Regardless of your Semblance, we'll have to let you go out and start killing Grimm at some point. It's the biggest part of being a Huntress after all."

"Just because she'll go out Hunting at some point, doesn't mean she has to start now." her Dad countered with a frown. "Ruby, I know you've got a good grasp of your Aura already, and you killed those two Beowolves by yourself without getting hurt. But the Grimm that you'd find out on even a short trip are much more dangerous. You're still years away from even starting combat school, you don't need to rush into this."

"While it isn't strictly necessary, I do think that it should be done, with the proper supervision." They all turned their heads as Professor Ozpin returned from his brainstorming session. "I'm sure that Qrow is more than capable of keeping her safe from even Elder Grimm. It would be for the best if Ruby learns as much as she can about her Semblance as soon as possible, so that steps can be taken to mitigate any potential complications. And she will need to experiment with its effects on the Grimm to do so."

The senior Huntsman put down his empty glass with some clinking from the half melted ice cubes, and planted his cane firmly before him. He looked as though he was about to make an official pronouncement, and they all straightened up to listen. "My advice to you is this. The majority of Miss Rose's abilities should be kept secret, which shouldn't be too difficult, as Semblances are usually treated as personal subjects regardless."

"If an explanation is needed, then just say that her Semblance puts the Grimm she kills into stasis. It's even true, though not the whole truth, and will give an explanation for whatever items she makes from their bodies. But most people are unlikely to react positively to the Essence manipulation and its implications, so it should only be kept between people you trust."

Ozpin fixed the girls with a stern stare, "This isn't something you can just tell a schoolyard friend with a pinky promise to keep it secret. It can only be entrusted to those who can trust with your lives." He waited until they nodded before turning to the adults.

"Although with that said, I would like your permission to bring Professor Port into this. He's our foremost expert in the field of Grimm study, and he should be able to provide more insights and support than myself. And who knows how far Ruby's contributions could advance his research."

"Pete? Yeah, I guess we could trust him with this. Never struck me as much of a scientist, but he's a fun guy to have around, so I think the kids would appreciate him." Taiyang nodded his assent.

"Thank you, I'm sure he'll be happy to help. And if you can provide me with some Grimm materials for him to run tests on, I'm sure he'll be extremely appreciative." Ozpin inclined his head. "As I understand it, you're still in the formative portion of your training. Since I will need some time to make the necessary arrangements anyway, feel free to continue as you were until either I or Peter contact you again. Meanwhile, Miss Rose, I would appreciate it if you were to try to find out if you're capable of the things I asked about earlier, and keep me informed of what you learn."

"And lastly…" He dropped to one knee in front of Ruby so that he wasn't looming over her, and his voice softened. "I think it would be for the best if you refrained from using your Semblance on your own emotions from now on." Her brows furrowed, and for a second he wondered if she was upset from his suggestion.

"But, why?" She hugged herself, clearly uncomfortable at the prospect of arguing with someone that her guardians clearly respected, but doing so nonetheless. "Isn't being scared or angry supposed to be a bad thing? I don't like feeling those things either, so why shouldn't I get rid of them, especially if it makes me stronger?"

Ozpin considered his words very carefully. Ruby's straightforward, childish logic had a point, and he needed to phrase his argument in a way that she would understand and accept, to keep her from a potentially damaging path. "Tell me Ruby, why do we feel pain?" The eight year old blinked in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Why do we feel pain?" he patiently repeated. "It's hardly a pleasant sensation, and we go through a lot of effort to avoid it. But why does it happen in the first place?" Ruby opened and closed her mouth a few times, having clearly never questioned this before, nor did she understand how it related to what they had been talking about. Thankfully, Ozpin didn't drag this lesson out.

"Pain is your body's way of signaling injury so that you can treat it, and so that you will avoid the same kind of harm in the future. In the same way, being upset is only a symptom of a greater issue.

Despite what some people might say, emotions such as fear, anger, sadness, and their variations are not inherently bad. They are a normal, and occasionally even necessary, part of life. They can give you the drive to pull through drastic situations when nothing else can, and they keep you from ignoring your problems."

Overcoming your negative emotions is not a matter of ignoring them entirely, but controlling them in a mature and responsible way. This is especially important for someone with all of the powers and responsibilities of a Huntress." Ruby blinked before gnawing on her bottom lip in thought. None of the adults pushed her, knowing that it was a lot for someone her age to digest.

"I…think I get it? It's like, if I just use my Semblance whenever I'm unhappy, then I'm just running away from my problems. I'll try not to use it like that anymore if you don't think I should." Ozpin smiled at her, but shook his head.

"I'm don't have the right to ban you from using your own Semblance Ruby. I'm merely advising you not to use it thoughtlessly, and to give yourself time to consider what your emotions are trying to tell you before you take action."

The headmaster pulled out and flipped open a pocket watch on a silver chain, and gave a weary sigh. "The world turns and duty calls. I'm afraid I'll have to excuse myself for today." He gave his hosts a grateful smile, "Thank you all for your hospitality." Brown eyes twinkled as he turned to the girls, "I wish you luck in all your future endeavors, and I hope to see both of you in the halls of my Academy one day."

Goodbyes were exchanged and he shook hands his former students. With a hastily wrapped package of Creep parts from the workshop tucked under his arm, the Professor departed with as little ceremony as when he arrived. _Wait,_ Ruby tilted her head, _how's he going to get back? I didn't hear a car. And how did he get here in the first place?_ Before she could follow him outside to find out, her Dad closed the door and turned to her.

"So, Grimm hunting huh?" At the mention of her request, her questions about the mysterious teacher took a back seat. "Well, Ozpin did have a point about Qrow being able to keep you safe. From anything on Patch anyways, and as long as you keep it limited to day trips."

"Yeah, and I'll be there to watch your back too!" Yang, who had been unusually subdued while Professor Ozpin was present, finally piped up. Although their uncle was quick to dampen her enthusiasm.

"Whoa slow down there Firebrand, I'm not ready to babysit two of you in the middle of a Hunt if I don't have to."

"What?! But-!"

"'But' nothin'. You're progressing quickly, but you've had your Aura for less than a month, and even a normal Beowolf would knock it out in just a couple of hits. Besides, you don't even have a proper weapon yet. Were you planning to punch the Grimm to death?"

The blonde crossed her arms with a sulky frown. "Well maybe I'll get strong enough to do just that, just to show you that I can!" Taiyang barked a laugh at her stubborn proclamation and slapped her on the back.

"While doing it just to spite Qrow isn't the best motivation I've ever heard, I can relate. And if you're really serious about it, I can give you some specialized lessons while you're sister and uncle are doing their thing. How's that sound?" Yang gave a considering nod, slightly mollified by the offer.

"Speaking of weapons," Qrow continued while turning to Ruby, "you're honestly not much better off either. Those daggers of yours might be usable against small fry, but against some of the bigger Grimm out there, you might as well be using toothpicks. And I'd feel a lot better about this whole venture if you had something to keep your distance from the bloodthirsty monsters. And despite what I said, I don't want the yellow drama queen over there to feel left out."

"So for tomorrow…" He gave one of his patented trickster grins, "How about we try to get you two some proper firepower?"

…

Glowing red eyes narrowed against the glare of the sun as the Beowolf pack stalked out of the shade of the forest canopy and into the open clearing. While the rank and file plodded out of the cover devoid of caution or care, the pack leader, not quite a full Alpha despite its bulk, at least gave a cursory examination of their surroundings.

Despite this, it remained unaware of the fact that Death had it in her sights. Ruby kept her breaths slow and even as she shifted the rifle to continue tracking the distant pack leader. Her raised hood shaded her eyes as she peered through the simple scope, crosshairs fixed on center mass.

The prone girl was positioned on the crest of a hill overlooking the clearing, hidden by the tall grass and the distance. Her slight form was molded to the hunting rifle in her arms, the red wood stock firmly set against her shoulder and her finger resting alongside, but not on, the trigger. Her uncle was lounging next to her, flask in one hand and a pair of pocket binoculars in the other.

"Looks like our quarry has arrived. What's your first target going to be?"

Ruby twisted a knob to adjust the focus of her scope, "Well you should always take out the big one first right?"

Qrow gave an approving nod, "That's usually a good choice, especially with Beowolves. Since they're pack hunters, taking out the leader will usually disorganize them, making it easier to clear out the chaff. But it's not always the best strategy. For example, Ursai are more independent and take longer to kill, so while the big guy is tanking your shots, its partners'll close in on you. It really depends on your opponents and the circumstances, but you'll learn about that later. Now take the shot when you're ready, and don't forget to take the wind and bullet drop into account."

"How do I do that exactly?"

"How am I supposed to know? I never mastered the sniper rifle." Her unhelpful spotter carelessly shrugged. "Just do your best, you'll learn better by doing anyway." Ruby rolled her eyes in annoyance but elected to focus on leading her target instead of sassing her uncle.

Shortly after Ozpin's visit, Qrow had made a day of taking them into town for a very particular kind of shopping trip. Their primary destination was the weapon shop that their uncle always used to restock on ammo and spare parts whenever he stopped by Patch.

Since he was a regular customer and was, quote, "Bringing you future business in the form of two of the greatest Huntresses the world will ever see!" he managed to convince the owner to let them use the store's firing range for free, only paying for the ammunition they used. Which still ended up costing him a good chunk of his latest mission reward, since they tried out nearly every type of gun in stock, only being kept away from the heavy weapons and explosives.

Pistols, shotguns, rifles, machine guns, bows, and crossbows. Bolt action, pump action, semi-automatic, automatic, and burst fire. Hours of cacophonous, destructive fun and who knows how many bullets, shells, and paper targets sacrificed to the cause of finding an appropriate firearm. A painful decision, since the budget that their Dad left them with was only enough for one quality weapon for each of them.

Yang quickly fell in love with the pump action shotgun, showing a maniacal grin at the oiled ka-chack and a laughing "Whoa..." after the recoil nearly knocked her off her feet. By comparison, Ruby used her indecisiveness as an excuse to get her hands on as many implements of destruction as possible. Her ultimate choice was already shown by her current circumstances.

Ruby lifted the polished bolt lever and pulled it back, the springs in the bottom of the magazine pushing its first bullet into the receiver before it was slid home. She released a breath and held it, her Aura suffusing the rifle and priming the Dust within the bullet casing. Between one deliberate beat of her heart and the next, her finger squeezed the trigger.

The spiraling projectile eagerly leapt from the barrel, the speed of its passage outstripping the thunder it left in its wake. The lead Beowolf's ears pricked up in response, before its head craned down to stare at the blood spurting from the hole in its chest. It wasn't until the second shot hit that it understood: it was already dead.

The pack scrambled in confusion and what could be described as panic. Two more of their number fell before their assailant was located. The first howl rallied their attention, and they charged towards the hill as a mindless screaming mob.

Ruby fired as swiftly as she could, her Semblance and the repetitive motion of the bolt keeping her urgency in check. This was why she chose the bolt action. It forced her not to rush and to make every shot count, as shown by the trail of struck down beasts that was forming before her, her targets heedless of their dead and dying comrades that they trampled past.

Despite her onslaught, the last two survivors closed to engagement range. She rose to her feet, undaunted, the bone bayonet attached to the rifle's end gleaming wickedly in the daylight. Rather than using it to fend them off, she leapt forward and speared the lead monster in the chest.

A metallic click was the only warning it got before the rifle was fired into it at point blank range, the shot erupting from its back in a messy spray. The lifeless body was leveraged to the side, revealing the final member of the pack, standing frozen in indecision.

For a moment, all they could do was stare at each other, girl and Grimm. Even as she took aim once more, the Beowolf remained still, seeming to understand the futility of resisting.

But this moment was broken when the trigger clicked on empty. Ruby blinked in shock, and the Beowolf's narrowed eyes flicked between the not so helpless girl, and the man holding the very shiny and very big sword behind her.

It immediately spun around, lashing out with a backhanded swipe as it did so. The novice sniper brought her weapon up in a block, but the row of spines on the side of the Grimm's forearm hooked the barrel and tore it from her grasp.

Ruby stumbled from the force of the blow but caught herself before she could fall over, even as her gun fell into the grass. As the Beowolf dropped down to all fours to flee as quickly as possible, she grit her teeth in a snarl.

 _You're not getting away._ The thorn covered vine loosened from around her arm and uncoiled out of her sleeve. Moving more on instinct than thought, she gripped the base of the tendril and whipped it forward.

The monochrome line lashed out and wrapped itself around the retreating throat. Where before the thorns didn't so much as scratch their mistress' porcelain skin, they now bit deep into their victim's flesh, and the Beowolf's spine bowed back as its flight was cruelly arrested.

For a few seconds filled with agonized choking, the Beowolf pulled against the strangling grip, which of course only tightened the noose. But once it understood what was happening, it turned back to the source of its restraint with a desperate lurch, its jaws distending wide open like an eel trying to swallow her whole.

But Ruby just used the slack to remove the tendril from its neck with a flick of her wrist, whipping its leading paw out from under it in the same motion to send it face planting into the dirt.

And by the time it managed to raise its head from the soil, it was too late to do anything about the cloaked assailant rushing towards it with an upraised dagger in her grip.

…

"Well I think this haul will keep you occupied for a good while, don't you?" Qrow grunted as he tightened the last Beowolf fur bundle and stacked it with the others. Despite the surprisingly light weight of the Grimm bone, their spoils were bulky enough that hefting it all back home in one go would be a challenge. He honestly wasn't used to this, if anything Grimm hunts were supposed to leave you lighter than you started, depleted of ammunition and supplies.

He turned to find his niece absorbing the last of the spare Grimm Essence. She was starting to resemble a bipedal rose bush, with her strange Grimm plant now draping over her narrow shoulders with multiple tendrils and sporting new blossoms.

Just as he was wondering how she was going to hide such a suspicious sight from other people, the exposed brambles retreated underneath her shirt. It left only the original bracelet and a seemingly normal rose bloom tucked behind her ear, the stem trailing down the nape of her neck hidden by her hair. He decided it was actually a rather pretty look for his almost tomboyish niece. _And with the amount of control over it she's just shown, I don't_ think _I have any reason to worry._

She finally turned to him distractedly, fiddling with the rifle she cradled in the crook of her arm. She had immediately checked it for damage after finishing off the last of the Beowolves, only finding a single inconsequential scratch. But even this seemed to bother her.

"Huh? Oh yeah, we really got a lot out of this. Thanks for tracking them down and setting this up Uncle Qrow, I really learned a lot."

"Heh, I didn't really do that much. But speaking of what you learned." He took a seat on one of the rolled up hides. "Are you ready to talk about what happened in that fight?"

Ruby sighed, "I lost count of the bullets in my magazine, and then I lost my weapon, I know." Pulling her hood up did little to hide the blush on her pale cheeks.

"Well that might have been what happened, but do you know why?" The question had her shrinking in on herself even more, and the hood shook slightly.

"It's because you got cocky and rushed in without keeping track of your surroundings, only focused on taking out the enemy in front of you. Though that's pretty excusable, considering how badly you were kicking their butts before that. And you did it without getting hurt, which is better than I did in my first hunt." He made a show of examining his fingernails while she perked up. "With a bit of polish, you'll probably be able to handle this sort of thing on your own sooner than I thought."

That got her smiling again. "So does that mean I can go with you on an actual mission soon?" The sheer audacity of that query nearly knocked him from his perch. If it weren't for her endearingly hopeful smile, he might have thought she was messing with him.

"Geez, give the kid an inch and she'll take a mile." he muttered to himself before raising his voice. "No, absolutely not. Even if you were ready for it, your Dad would skin me alive if I tried to take you off the island!" He crossed his arms and turned his head away for good measure. Ruby needed to understand that he was drawing the line here!

"Aw come on Uncle Qrow!" she whined pitifully. "At least tell me what I have to do to be ready for it, please? Please, please, please, please, pleeeeeease?"

The veteran Huntsman, having put his foot down, stayed firmly resolute in his decision...until he made the mistake of glancing at his opponent and promptly received a full dose of eight-year-old pleading face. Complete with shining puppy dog eyes and quivering lips.

 _Damn it, you can face down horrors that would make lesser men drop dead from fear, but this is what brings you down?_ He gave a defeated sigh, before laying out his terms.

"Alright, here's what you gotta do. First, you go through all of your training me and your Pops tell you to do, no wincing, no whining, and you give it a hundred and ten percent. And I'm not just talking about fighting, cause this means I'll have to give you an early start on wilderness survival on top of what we're already doing."

Ruby tilted her head, but nodded. "I'm not sure how you're supposed to give more than a hundred percent, but I'll do my best!" He snorted a laugh in response.

"That's all I ask. You need to master your weapons, Aura, and survival skills enough not to satisfy my standards, but Tai's, because you're going to be the one who has to convince him to let you do this." He had to suppress a grin at her reaction to that news. Getting Taiyang to approve this recklessness would be more monumental than any possible training regimen.

"And last but not least..." His protege turned to him with such wariness that he almost regretted laying down his last condition. Almost. "Don't think you can skip out on your regular schooling just because you're a big bad Grimm slayer now. If we're going to have enough time to go on one of my missions before your vacation ends, then you're going to have to finish all of your Summer reading and homework early!"

The high pitched cry of despair that echoed through the trees sent their feathery occupants fleeing into the sky, chased by over-dramatic, diabolical laughter.


End file.
